Pokemon Generations: Satsumi's Journey
by Hakajin
Summary: When Satsumi's dad goes missing on a trip to investigate an ancient temple ruin, she decides to do everything she can to find him. Satsumi is a timid girl prone to worry; dealing with her new friends is almost as hard as dealing with her new enemies. How will she able to face the dangers ahead of her and find her dad? And what is her connection to the mysterious ruins?
1. Prologue (Pt 1)

Prologue (Pt. 1)

I knew something was wrong when he didn't come home for my birthday. My mom said it was nothing: "Maybe he just forgot what day it is; you know how absent-minded your dad can be"– but I could tell she was only trying to make me feel better. She pretended that everything was fine, that there was nothing wrong with sitting at a table for two at my favorite restaurant, or with putting a third of my cake back in the fridge, or with actually being able to hear the funny parts of my favorite movie because no one was laughing too loud. Did she think I didn't notice that her smile was too wide, her voice was too high-pitched and bubbly, or that she kept turning her face away so I wouldn't see her worried expression? I kept glancing at her while we watched the movie– no, not watched– my mom's eyes were glued to the TV screen, but she was staring straight through it.

But I pretended, too. My mom was trying so hard to make me happy, and I didn't want to make her worry about me. So I told her that she was right, maybe something came up; maybe he got so busy he lost track of time. I could almost believe it myself– he really was absent-minded, just like my mom said. He'd forgotten her birthday a few years before; boy, she'd really let him have it for that.

It wasn't the first time he'd been away from home, either– a three time Pokemon League Champion, he travels sometimes, giving speeches and exhibitions. But this time wasn't like the others. It started when Professor Ookido came to our house one day about a week ago. There was nothing unusual about that; he lives nearby, and he and my dad have been friends since they were kids. But this time, it seemed like something was bothering him. His smile was too thin. When I answered the door, he mussed my hair and said "Hey, Short Stuff," like always, but he didn't stop to talk to me, just asked where my dad was. I led him into the kitchen, where my dad was crouched down putting down food bowls Pikachu and his other Pokemon. He looked up, stood, and said hi to Professor Ookido when we entered. Then he said, "Satsumi, why don't you go upstairs and clean your room?" He didn't answer when I said that my room was already clean, just frowned, crossed his arms, and looked me straight in the eye. I knew what he was trying to tell me- cleaning my room was just an excuse; really, he just wanted me to leave so I wouldn't hear their conversation. I was really curious, but I wasn't going to argue. So I left.

That night at dinner, my dad told my mom and me that he had to leave on business for a few days. When my mom asked what kind of business, he shrugged and said "Some archeologists just finished digging up some ruins over in the Nirakar Region. Shigeru wants me to go check it out." 

"Ruins?" my mom said, pausing with her fork halfway to her mouth.

"Yeah, out in the desert, some temple in some mythological city or something." My dad shrugged. "I don't know much about it, but Shigeru seemed excited."

"Then why can't he go?"

My dad looked at me with raised eyebrows, and I turned my face toward my plate, embarrassed by my outburst.

"Shigeru has too much to do at the lab," said my dad, "he has to get the starters ready for this year's new trainers."

"Oh. Right."

That made sense– it was almost time for new trainers to start their Pokemon journeys. But that didn't make me feel any better. I rolled a pea around on my plate with my fork so I wouldn't have to look at my dad.

"Don't worry, Satsumi," he said with a smile in his voice. "I'll be home in plenty of time for your birthday. Have I ever broken my promise?"

I shook my head, feeling a little bad for doubting my dad. I'm really proud of him, and I've gotten kind of used to him being gone sometimes; these days, I don't even cry when he leaves. But I still miss him when he's away, and he knows it. That's why he promised me he'd always be home for my birthday no matter what. My dad's always told me that the day I was born was the most important day of his life, even more important than the day he set out on his Pokemon journey, or the day he first won the title of Pokemon League Champion.

That's why I knew, deep down, that he couldn't have forgotten. Even if he got held up this time, he would've at least called. My mom kept her phone near her all day, kept checking it. The light came back to her eyes every time it rang, then disappeared again as soon as she looked at the caller ID. I hope I hid my disappointment from her better than she hid hers from me.

It was getting late when she looked at the clock, sighed, and headed upstairs. She came back down a minute later carrying something small in one hand. My mom sat down next to me on the sofa and handed me a box a little bigger than my open hands, wrapped in blue paper and  
pink ribbons.

"Happy birthday, Satsumi," she said. "This is from both me and your dad. I was hoping he could be on the phone when you opened it, but... I guess he'll just have to miss out, huh?"

I nodded and smiled back at her as best I could.

"Go ahead, open it!"

I tried to show enthusiasm as I tore into the paper, but a chill ran through me when I saw what the present was. My stunned reflection stared back at me from the blank screen of a new model Pokedex, visible through the cellophane window of the box.

"Mom... wow... this is..."

"You like it?" She said with a laugh in her voice. "Your dad and I picked it out weeks ago; we think you're finally ready to begin your Pokemon journey."

"R-really?"

My mom nodded.

"You've been a lot healthier these past couple of years; I almost can't remember the last time you got sick. And your doctor says it's ok now." She paused, then added "Actually, you probably could've gone last year, but we wanted to wait and make sure."

Why did I feel so anxious? I'd been waiting for this day since I was a little kid. My parents told me countless stories about their adventures while I was growing up– about how they met all of their Pokemon (and each other), about all the places they traveled to, all the gym matches and tournaments they battled in, about all their encounters with the "evil" Team Rocket." I'd make them repeat my favorite ones over and over (especially the one about how my dad won his first Pokemon League), and dream about having my own adventures. What kind of Pokemon would I train? What region would I journey through? What kind of people would I meet? I spent hours imagining it all and couldn't wait to leave home.

But my dreams got put on hold. I was born two and a half months too early, and was sickly for most of my childhood. Fevers, ear infections, and (worst of all), respitory infections– it seemed like there was always something wrong with me. My parents and I hoped I'd be better by the time I turned ten, the age when most kids start their journeys. And I was; at least, I wasn't sick as often, and when I was, it wasn't as serious (though I was still small for my age). But my doctor said I still wasn't healthy enough to travel on my own. My tenth birthday was miserable, and not just because I had a fever. All the other kids my age got to start their journeys; I loved Pokemon just as much as they did, but just because I got sick sometimes... it wasn't fair! Nothing my parents did to cheer me up worked. They told me, maybe I'd be well enough next year;

"No, I won't," I sobbed, "I'll always be sick, and I'll never get to be a Pokemon trainer!"

I said it because I was frustrated and upset, but really, I hoped my parents were right. When they weren't, I started to give up. It seemed like I was just doomed, Pokemon-wise. But now that my chance had finally come...

"It's ok if you don't want to leave just yet," my mom said.

I looked at her and shook my head, scolding myself for letting her see me worry.

"It's not that, this is really great; thank you so much! I was just surprised, is all."

She smiled warmly at me and tucked my hair behind my ear.

"Ok. But you don't have to rush things, you know; take as long as you need to feel ready. One more year won't–"

"Mo-om, I'm fine!" I said, pretending to be annoyed.

She laughed and said "Ok, ok! But I wanted to tell you that, anyway. Especially since..."

That's what was bothering me: I was worried about my dad; I couldn't leave home without knowing he was safe.

"It'll be ok, Mom," I said, trying to sound casual, "Dad'll definitely be home before then."  
My mom put her smile back on and said "I'm sure you're right." We both tried to believe that I was.

My mom had contacted the authorities in Eternia City the day after my birthday, but they couldn't find my dad. The police started an investigation, interviewed my mom, Professor Ookido, talked to people in the area where he'd disappeared. He'd been seen there, at least. The archeologists at the site said that he'd been there a week ago, wanting to explore the ruins. They hadn't allowed him in, and he'd gone back to his hotel in the city after a short argument. All his stuff was still there. But my dad had just disappeared. No one had seen him after that night; they had no idea where he'd gone. The police wanted to investigate the ruins, see if he'd been there, but first they needed a permit; it would take days for them to get one.

With every day that passed, I lost a little more hope. Every night, I cried alone in my bed, trying not to imagine what had happened to my dad. What if he was sick somewhere? What if he'd been kidnapped? That didn't seem likely, not when he had Pikachu and his other Pokemon. But they'd disappeared with him. I wished Pikachu were sleeping curled up next to me, the way he always did when I was sick or sad. I hugged my Clefairy doll tight instead, but it wasn't the same. I wanted to crawl in bed with my mom like I used to whenever I had a nightmare, but I couldn't let her know that I could hear her crying. I'd never felt so alone in my life.

Waiting to hear something about my dad was driving me crazy. The day for new trainers to leave on their Pokemon journeys was getting closer and closer, but I couldn't leave without him there, could I? Everything was so wrong, it wasn't the right time. But that was an excuse; I was really just afraid. After all, what could I do against something that even my dad couldn't handle? But sitting around waiting for the phone to ring wasn't helping anything, and I knew deep down that I should be doing everything I could to find him. My dad'd always been there when I needed him. Like the time when I was little and I got really, really sick, the sickest I've ever been. He was away at the Pokemon League finals, going for his third title. But when I woke up in the hospital, he was right there holding my hand, looking down at me and stroking my hair. He'd stayed home for a couple of years after that, to make sure I was ok. My dad would do anything for me. And now that it was my turn to help him, I couldn't let him down. So I decided– I'd leave on my Pokemon journey, and I'd find my dad, no matter what.


	2. Prologue (Pt 2)

Prologue (Pt. 2)

Every time I thought about leaving home, I felt anxious and sick, and I almost wanted to just get it over with. But the next few days just crawled by. To distract myself, I studied up on the Nirakar Region in a book on my dad's shelf. It didn't help much, because it kept reminding me of him, but at least it felt like I was doing something. Maybe that temple or whatever had something to do with his disappearance; maybe I'd find some kind of clue in what I was reading.

I learned that Nirakar is an arid region northwest of Kanto, across the sea. Much of it is desert, but the river that flows from the mountain in the North makes civilization possible; there are both big cities and small towns.

Historians from thousands of years ago wrote down legends of a great city, Paradisio, in the middle of the Nirakar Desert. Paradisio had tall buildings made of glittering stone; a man-made lake and canals; beautiful gardens with fountains. But they didn't know where the city was, exactly, who the people were or where they had gone.

For a long time, modern historians thought Paradisio was just a story. Apparently, historians from a long time ago often exaggerated and wrote down strange rumors as fact. There were no ruins in the Nirakar Desert. The story was impossible, anyway—how could anyone build a civilization in such a dry place? How could they build such huge structures? How could they have used this "glittering stone" when there was nothing like that for miles and miles around? But lots of people still believed in it. They kept looking for it.

And then, fifty years ago, someone found something. It was just a stone sticking out of the ground, but it was long, square, and pointy, obviously carved by someone. The stone turned out to be the top of a spire from a grand palace. At the time my dad's book was published two years ago, they were finished with everything but the temple (which my book says is called a "ziggurat"). Most of the buildings had crumbled and the lake and canals were dry, but it had once been exactly as the ancient historians had said.

But even today, no one has been able to figure out who built the city or how they did it. There have been lots of theories– maybe the lake was fed from an underground water source, maybe they used Pokemon to build, maybe it was aliens– but none of them have worked to explain the city (well, except for the one about the aliens, but no one really takes that seriously). There's no evidence in the soil that there was ever a natural water source. And no tools for capturing Pokemon have been found. None of it makes any sense. There is writing in the ruins that might have the answers, but so far no one has been able to translate it. But linguists keep trying. Some are convinced that there's a great power hidden in the ancient city.

It all sounded like exactly the kind of thing my dad would get himself involved in. Like the time he saved the world from a ruthless Pokemon collector (I was five, sick with another ear infection, when my parents first told me that story. I remember lying on the sofa with my head in my mom's lap and my feet in my dad's, as they told me about arriving on the island just as the people were celebrating the legend of an ancient prophecy, how my dad started out playing the role of the hero, then had to brave a fierce storm to collect the three orbs of power and help Lugia tame the legendary birds of fire, ice, and lightning). Yeah, if I wanted to find my dad, the Paradisio ruins were definitely the place to start.

Two days before I left on my Pokemon journey, I lay on my stomach on my bed, my head propped up in one hand and my book in the other, rereading the part about the ruins.

All of a sudden I heard, "What are you reading, Satsumi?"

I snapped the book closed and laid my arm across the cover, but the look on my mom's face said she already knew the answer to her question. If I'd known she could read the title from where she stood in the hall, I would've closed my door.

"Nothing," I said, sitting up, "I mean, nothing really interesting."

My mom walked into my room and bent over to pick up my book.

_"Nirakar Then and Now," _she read, sitting down beside me. Her smile faltered, but her voice was still steady when she asked, "Are you reading this because of your dad?"

I nodded. There was no point in lying; she wouldn't believe me if I said no. I stared at my feet, which still didn't quite touch the floor when I sat on my bed, and said, "I'm... actually thinking of traveling there on my Pokemon journey."

My face felt hot. I could feel my mom's eyes on me, and I wished she'd say something. I hadn't meant for her to find out this way. Not that I'd been hiding it from her, exactly... I'd just been waiting for the right time. Only, it never seemed to come. So maybe it was better this way.

"I hope you're not planning to go looking for him," my mom said finally.

"I'm not!" I said, facing her. "Nirakar seems like an interesting region, I want to see it for myself!"

My mom studied me carefully, and I had to look away. I knew she was too smart to be fooled by that, but I hadn't had time to think of an answer. I took a deep breath and started over.

"Actually... I do want to know more about the ruins. I need to try to find out what happened. And... I think I'd feel closer to him there."

That was the truth, even if it wasn't the _whole_ truth. My mom hugged me tight, and I laid my head on her shoulder.

"You're such a good girl, Satsumi," she said. "You've grown up so much."

After a moment, she released me, but kept one arm around my shoulders. She looked into my face and tucked my hair behind my ear, as she said, "But you're still a kid. I don't want you getting involved in anything dangerous."

_You and Dad did all kinds of dangerous stuff when you were kids,_ I thought.

"I know, your dad and me did all kinds of dangerous stuff when we were kids," my mom said with a strained smile. "That's why I worry about you. I know a lot can happen on a Pokemon journey, even when you're not looking for trouble, and...Thinking of you getting involved in the kind of things as we did terrifies me."

I leaned into her and wrapped my arms around her waist, and she pulled me close to her again.

"It's ok, Mom," I said. "I'm not gonna look for dad, and I'm not gonna do anything dangerous. I promise."

My mom studied me carefully for a second, and I was afraid she was going to argue. But then she nodded and said "Ok."

My chest felt tight, and I had to fight back tears. I hated lying to her. But there was no point in making her worry, and I had to do this. Maybe I wouldn't even have to break my promise. Maybe my dad wasn't involved with anything dangerous at all, maybe it was all a misunderstanding, and he'd turn up before I even left for my Pokemon journey. I closed my eyes tight and willed it to happen.


	3. Interlude

Interlude

_Never in my life have I felt so alone. No, not even when my father announced my engagement to the prince of Shul. How I cried then! I'd hoped to become head priestess at the temple like my mother, or the wife of a noble in Urutu. Anything was fine, as long as I could stay here, in the beautiful, noble city of my birth. But instead, I would be sent far away, to be married to the prince of that mean, untrustworthy people. No one understood my father's choice, not even my mother. If he wanted to forge a political alliance, surely there was a better match for me- Shul was already in his possession and easily bent to his will. Even if that weren't so, it's a small territory on the edge of the kingdom, an arid wasteland of heat and dust. What have they to offer us? What could possibly be gained by tying ourselves to them? But my father's word was absolute, and he would not be questioned._

_At least I had one solace at that time. When I hid myself away in my quarters to cry, Mira came to me, clasped my hands, and said, "Don't cry, Innanna; I will come with you to Shul. We will always be together, I promise." And I believed her. After all, we had always been together before. Mira was my milk-sister; we'd grown up playing together, and she'd become my hand-maiden when she became old enough. As long as I had her, as long as I wasn't alone, I would be all right._

_And then yesterday... I wasn't expecting it at all. Mira was combing my hair, which always made me feel so relaxed and at peace- the feeling of the comb's fingers against my scalp, the gentle tug at my hair as she carefully untangled it. Off-handedly, I said, "You know, Mira, you're the only one who knows how to make me feel at ease. I'm so relieved you're coming with me to Shul; I don't know what I'd do without you."_

_But Mira didn't reply. I felt her tense behind me, and I knew her silence wasn't simply because she had nothing to add._

"_What's the matter?__" I asked in a cold tone, without turning to face her._

_Mira stopped combing my hair._

"_Well..." she replied._

"_I asked you a question, Mira; you'd do well to answer it."_

_She sighed, and, after a moment's hesitation, said, "Yes, Innanna. The truth is, my parents have arranged a marriage for me here."_

_My body tensed, and I tried to push down the panic rising in my chest. I twisted on my cushion to face Mira and said, "Don't worry; there has to be some way we can get you out of it."_

_Yes, there had to be some way we could break this engagement. My father was the Pokemon Emperor, after all. He wouldn't be easily swayed, but if we poured all our thoughts into it, surely we'd find an argument good enough to convince him to interfere. The thought of facing him made my throat tighten, but I could bear it._

_But she didn't reassure me, or even smile. Instead, she turned her head and averted her eyes._

"_What's wrong?" I asked. "It's not all that hopeless."_

_It wasn't like Mira to give up so easily; she was always stubborn when it came to what she wanted._

"_It's not that," she replied, still refusing to look at me._

"_What is it, then? Tell me, Mira!"_

_Mira sighed and looked me straight in the eye._

"_I don't want to get out of it," she said._

"_...What? But then, how will you...?"_

_It wasn't possible; she couldn't be saying what I thought she was saying._

"_I won't be coming with you to Shul, Innanna. I'm sorry." _

_I was on my feet in an instant, though my legs felt weak from the shock. _

"_Yes, you are!" I cried. "You have to! You promised!"_

_Mira rose slowly and faced me straight on. _

"_We were children then," she said in a slow, measured tone. "You can't possibly-"_

"_Don't you dare tell me what I can't do!" I yelled, stamping my foot. _

_Mira grimaced and replied, "I forgot my place; I apologize. I only meant that I was too young to know what I was promising."_

"_You promised all the same!"_

_My fists clenched and my body was taut with rage._

"_Yes, I did, and I was foolish to do so. I am my parents' only child; my duty lies with them. If I don't marry here, who will give them grandchildren? Who will look after them in their old age?"_

"_I don't care!"_

_Mira's eyes turned cold then, and her face took on a hard expression I'd never seen on her before._

"_No, you don't, do you?" she said. "You don't care about anyone but yourself."_

_And then I couldn't control myself any longer- I pulled back and slapped her in the face as hard as I could. Mira screamed and stumbled back, bending over and holding her cheek, but I felt no pity._

"_Insolence!" I screamed. "Get out! Don't ever show your face in front of me again!"_

_Letting go of her cheek, she stood tall and glared at me with burning eyes. Then, without another word, she turned and exited the room. I collapsed onto my cushion and doubled over, crying quietly to myself._

_Soon, I heard the click-click-click of claws on the floor tiles as Arcanine padded over to me from his cushion in the corner of the room. I'd felt him wake during the commotion, felt his unease and confusion- Mira was a friend; why were we fighting? What should he do? He stopped in front of me and laid down with his head on his paws, looking up at me; I wrapped my arms around his neck, leaned into him, and buried my face in his soft fur._

"_It's all right," I said, "you didn't do anything wrong."_

_I felt some guilt for upsetting him. I'd lost control of myself, completely unfitting for a princess of Urutu, as my mother would say. But how could I stay calm after being abandoned by the one person I thought would always be by my side?_

_I haven't spoken to Mira since then. Why should I? What would be the point? It's obvious now that she doesn't really care for me. She never did, so I haven't lost anything. I should just stop thinking about her._

_But somehow, I'm unable to stop myself from picturing the scene from yesterday over and over in my mind. I thought the greenery and earthy smells of the garden would put me at ease the way they always do, but alas, that has not been the case. Today, all I can think is that my time in this paradise is coming to an end. Soon, this will all be nothing but a memory, like a mirage of sweet water in a dry dessert, to be yearned after but never reached._

_Arcanine senses my despondency and nuzzles my face with his huge head. I smile and stroke the fur on his nose._

_"At least I'll still have you," I say._

_And at least I still have six more months at home. That's right, I should try to forget about everything else and enjoy what little time I have left here. I lie back in Arcanine's soft, warm fur as if he were a pillow. With my head turned toward the sky like this, the ziggurat looms in my vision; the midday sun makes the white stone glitter so blindingly that I have to close my eyes. I know it's only a trick of the light, but sometimes when I look at it towering above me, it seems as if it's about to topple and crush the whole palace. It frightens me sometimes. Ever since I was a child, I've felt a strange force from the ziggurat, pulling on me, as if it were constantly watching me from behind. At least in Shul, I'll be able to escape that thing._

_I close my eyes and try to stop thinking, to just enjoy the shade and cool breeze. But it's impossible; even when I'm able to push the thoughts away, my heart feels heavy and cold._

_Suddenly, Arcanine turns his head to the left, the movement rousing me. I sit up and follow his gaze to see Sena wandering toward me on the garden path, head bent, hands clasped behind his back, completely ignoring the beauty around him. _

_Sena's not much older than me, but in the years I've known him, I don't think I've seen him smile once (it's a shame, if he weren't so dour, he wouldn't be bad to look at, with his pale skin and dark eyes and hair). What's he got to be so unhappy about? My father brought him to Urutu, the richest, most beautiful city on Earth, to be his chief scribe and record the stories of his people on parchment. Just being the scholar chosen to record my father's words was a great honor, but he also gave Sena spacious quarters in the palace, all the writing supplies he needs, the finest cotton robes to wear. And yet... My father can't see it, but to me, it's obvious that Sena hates us, the ingrate._

_When he's about ten paces away, Arcanine begins a deep growl, and Sena finally looks up and sees me. It pleases me to see his eyes go wide as he realizes he's failed to show me the proper reverence._

_He goes down on one knee and bows before me, saying, "Please pardon me for disturbing me, Your Highness."_

_"You're pardoned," I say, enjoying his nervousness._

_I pat Arcanine on the head, silencing him. He lays his head on his paws, but keeps his eyes locked on Sena._

_"You may rise," I say to Sena._

_He does so. He's trying not to look at Arcanine, but his eyes keep darting back to him._

_"Don't worry," I say, "Arcanine won't attack without my permission."_

_"Well, then. I suppose I have nothing to fear."_

_Sena gives a polite smile, but it's strained and obviously false. I smile back easily._

_"It's a beautiful day, isn't it, Sena?" I say._

_"Every day is a beautiful day in Urutu, Your Highness," he replies, which is true, but I can tell he doesn't mean it._

_"Well spoken. Tell me, what do you think of our garden?"_

_Sena looks him and says, "It's wonderful; we have nothing like it in Shul."_

_"Oh, don't you?"_

_Of course they don't. Sena knows I know this._

_"I'm afraid not, Your Highness," he says politely, but with a hard look in his eyes._

_I smile and say, "Well, perhaps my father will fix that when I journey there."_

_"Perhaps," says Sena, though we both know it'll never happen._

_The people of Shul are fiercely territorial and have been trouble-makers since the first Pokemon Emperor, Alulim, hundreds of years ago. Alulim wanted only to bring water and greenery to their parched land, but they refused out of sheer pride. No wonder Sena is the way he is; it's in his blood._

_"By the way, Your Highness," Sena says after a brief silence, "I spoke to your father on your behalf, about the tutoring you requested."_

"_Did you?" I reply, pretending to be uninterested._

_I did tell my father that I wanted to be tutored; I thought it would please him. He wants so much for his children to be educated, to know our own history, as well as the cultures of the people in his empire. Or at least, that's what I thought. But he refused my request, saying that I'd had enough schooling. It's really only my brother's education that he cares about, isn't it? I was a fool to expect more. After all, he will one day rule this Empire, while I'm just a girl; what does it matter whether I'm educated? I am an afterthought, when I'm thought of at all. That's as it should be, of course. I shouldn't be so selfish; I should want what's best for my homeland. My duty is to become a good wife and reflect well on my father and my home. _

_Sena nods and says, "I did. He agreed with me that it might benefit you to learn about the culture and history of the land that will become your new home."_

"_And how do you suppose I'll benefit from that?__"_

"_Well, Your Highness,__" Sena says, staring at the ground, "I thought that it might help you adjust to life in Shul if you knew what to expect, how we live there."_

_His words are polite as always, but his terse tone belies barely restrained anger._

_Arcanine wants to bare his teeth at him, but I stop him as I try to stop my own face from showing my own anger at Sena's disrespect. Sena has no desire to help me, no reason to intercede on my behalf. Or rather, no honest reason; he's planning something. . don't want to get caught up in his treachery. But perhaps I can catch him in his own web. Then I'll be able to show him for the traitor he is, and we'll be rid of this pest. Yes, I must, for the sake of my father and his country._

_So I cross my arms, smile, and say, "No, I haven't changed my mind. When do we begin?"_


	4. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I woke from strange dreams I couldn't remember and looked at the clock on my bedside table– 6:30 already? Like my dad, I'd barely slept the night before leaving on my Pokemon journey. Unlike my dad, who'd slept in the next morning and almost missed getting any Pokemon at all, I was going to make sure I got first pick. So I got up and made my bed, trying not to wonder how long it'd be before I slept in it again. I tried to ignore the queasy feeling in my stomach. After all, my dad hadn't been nervous or worried when he started his journey; he was just excited about the adventure ahead of him. I dressed in my blue jumper over a white t-shirt and black leggings, then brushed my hair and clipped my bangs to the left with two silver clips. When I was finished getting ready, I headed down stairs and into the kitchen, where I found my mom making a special breakfast.

"Good morning, Satsumi!" she said when she saw me. "Are you ready for your big day?"

"Yeah!" I said, trying to match her too-cheerful tone.

Soon, we were sitting down with plates of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. My stomach still felt sick with nerves, and I couldn't really taste anything, but I forced myself to clean my plate. My mom would worry if she knew I had no appetite, so I couldn't let her see– especially not when she was trying so hard to make me happy.

Later, riding to Pallet Town in the back seat of my Aunt Sakura's red convertible, I regretted eating so much. Watching the passing scenery was only making me feel sicker, so I leaned back into my seat, closed my eyes and swallowed hard to fight my nausea. There was nothing to see, anyway, except grass, grass, and more grass.

"You're pretty quiet back there, Satsumi," Aunt Sakura called over the wind. "You ok?"

I opened my eyes and saw her adjusting the rearview mirror to look at me.

"I'm fine!" I called back. "Just, um... thinking about what starter Pokemon I'm going to choose!"

"Huh?" my mom said, twisting around in her seat to talk to me. "I thought you'd already decided?"

_Oops._ I'd forgotten that I'd told her.

"Oh, yeah, I did. But I'm thinking about it again. To make sure it's the right choice."

My mom smiled.

"Well, don't over-think it. At times like this, it's best to go with your gut."

That sounded exactly like something my dad would say.

"Ok!" I said.

We were quiet then. Ahead of us, I saw a girl with a green ponytail and a boy with brunette hair walking along the side of the road. I turned around to see them better as we passed; the girl waved to me, but I couldn't tell if she saw me wave back.

An hour later, we were in Pallet Town. Another ten minutes, and we were driving through Professor Ookido's gate and up his driveway to the Pokemon lab and ranch. My dad and I had been there only a month ago to help Professor Ookido and his assistant, Kenji, replace a section of fence that had rotted. (Well, ok, my dad helped, I mostly just held boards in place and handed everyone nails.) That part of the fence still looked brand new, its spotless white paint standing out against the dingy older parts. It seemed strange that my life had changed so much in that short time.

As we got out of the car, the door to the lab opened, and Professor Ookido, his grandfather, and Kenji came out waving and calling out "hello"s. My grandmother followed, but she rushed ahead of them down the walkway and scooped me up in her arms.

"Oh, Satsumi, I'm so happy for you, Sweetie!" she said.

I hugged her back. After a few seconds, she released me, but kept her hands on my shoulders and held me at an arms' length.

"Look how grown up you are! Time goes by so fast..."

"You just saw me last month, Grandma," I said, smiling up at her.

She laughed.

"Oh, I know. I just can't believe this day is already here; it makes me feel so old!"

She was smiling, but there were tears in her eyes, and I wondered if she was thinking about the day my dad left on his journey. Grandpa Ookido put a hand on her shoulder and said, "You'll never be old, Hanako, as long as you stay young at heart."

"Yeah, he's the real old-timer around here," said Professor Ookido.

"That's right, so you'd better show me some respect!"

Kenji slapped Professor Ookido on the back and said "Yeah, Shigeru, show some respect!"

I tried to laugh along with them, but all I could do was smile. No one mentioned my dad's absence, but they didn't have to– I could feel it, like the hum in my ears in perfect silence. They could, too, I thought; their joking around seemed fake, like they were trying too hard to pretend everything was normal. My eyes kept drifting to the spot beside my mom where my dad should've been standing. My mom wasn't laughing, either, but we both smiled bigger when our eyes met.

"All right, all right," Professor Ookido said, "Enough of that. Satsumi's here to get a Pokemon, not to listen to us talk. You ready, Short Stuff?"

I nodded, and we started up the path to the lab. Professor Ookido put his hand on my back and slowed down, and I matched his steps so I wouldn't get ahead of him. We started lagging behind. The others turned and waited for us when they reached the door, and then he stopped completely. I looked up at him, waiting for him to explain, but all he said was "Um."

Everyone stared at us for a second, and then Kenji smacked his forehead and said, "Oh, no, I was supposed to clean the lab before the new trainers got here! I totally forgot!"

"Kenji!" Professor Ookido said, clearly annoyed. "You were supposed to do that yesterday!"

"I know, I'm sorry! Man, now I'll never finish in time!"

"Don't worry, I can help," Grandpa Ookido said.

"Me, too!" said my Aunt Sakura.

"We'll all help," my mom said.

Kenji opened the door and led everyone inside. I started to follow, but Professor Ookido held me back.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, Short Stuff?" he asked.

I nodded, even though his serious tone was already making me nervous. Keeping his hand on my shoulder, he got down on one knee so he could look me directly into my eyes.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm so sorry for what's happened. It's ok if you're angry with me, I understand."

"I'm not!" I said, shaking my head.

It wasn't Professor Ookido's fault my dad had gone missing; he couldn't have known what would happen. So it wasn't fair for me to be angry at him.

Professor Ookido smiled and said "Ok. I'm relieved to hear that. But I wanted you to know." He paused, then said, "You know, Satsumi, you're a really brave kid for starting your journey at a time like this. I know it hasn't been easy for you. Your dad would– your dad will be really proud of you when he finds out."

There were so many questions I wanted to ask. Why had he sent my dad to the ziggurat in the first place? What was going on there? But my throat was so tight that I couldn't get any words out without sobbing. Besides, if Professor Ookido figured out what I was up to, he'd probably try to stop me, or tell my mom. So I turned around and hurried up the path before he could see me cry. The path looked blurry and far away through my tears. He was wrong– I wasn't brave, I was terrified. Already, I could feel the anxiety buzzing through my body. What would he say if he knew how much I wanted to forget the whole thing and just go home? But I couldn't do that, I couldn't give up on my dad so easily. So I kept putting one foot in front of the other until I reached the door.

Professor Ookido held it open for me, then led me through the lobby and down a hall to a room I'd never been in before. It was really plain, with white walls and a gray tile floor, but the right wall was lined with floor to ceiling shelves full of Pokeballs. In the middle, there was a metal table that held four more, and I guessed that these were the starters. All the surfaces looked polished and shiny. The room wasn't exactly small, but it was crowded with everyone inside. No one was doing any cleaning.

"Finished up in here?" Professor Ookido asked as he entered the room.

"Yeah," my mom said, "but we didn't really do much. It was clean to begin with."

Kenji shrugged and said, "Shigeru's just kind of a neat-freak."

"Hey, good research begins with a clean lab!" Professor Ookido said, smiling. "You should really know that by now."

He and I moved toward the middle of the room, and everyone else stepped back to make room for us.

"Now, Satsumi," he said, "you're the first trainer here, so you get first pick. Which Pokemon do you choose?"

My heart pounded with excitement– this was it. I took a deep breath and said, "Eevee. I want Eevee."

"Good choice," Professor Ookido said.

Everyone clapped as he picked up the left-most Pokeball and handed it to me. I curled my fingers around it, the metal cool against my skin, and stared at its shiny red and white surface. I'd handled plenty of Pokeballs before, but this one was different, this one was mine. My first Pokemon. How many times had I imagined this moment? Now that it was actually here, it almost didn't feel real.

"You know," Professor Ookido said, interrupting my thoughts, "It was my idea to make Eevee a starter Pokemon."

Everyone laughed at that, but I felt a squeeze at my heart; this was where my dad usually said "What are you talking about, Shigeru, you _know_ it was _my_ idea!" They'd been arguing about it for years, and it'd become kind of a joke between them. Actually, whoever suggested the idea got it from all the trainers who kept requesting Eevee, but it was still a good one. Eevee was a normal type, so it didn't have many advantages in battle, but it didn't have many disadvantages, either. Plus, it had lots of different evolutions, each with a different type, and new trainers could take their time deciding which one they wanted. I'd decided on Eevee a long time ago.

"Why don't we head outside so Satsumi can release her new Pokemon?" Grandpa Ookido suggested. "It's really too crowded in here."

So we headed outside, down the driveway, and through the gate to the road. Everyone stood behind me and watched as I threw the Pokeball and said "Eevee, come out!" (Actually, I was so nervous that I just kind of muttered it.) The ball hit the ground and split open, releasing a flash of white light that began to take the shape of a small, four-legged Pokemon with long ears. The light faded, and there sat Eevee, exactly as I'd imagined– brown fur, tan collar, black eyes. I wondered, would I be able to tell it apart from all the other Eevees in the world once I got to know it better?

"Eevee!" Eevee chirped, jumping to its feet.

I crouched to the ground and held out my hand to it.

"H-hi, Eevee!" I said. "My name is Satsumi; I'm your new trainer!"

Eevee trotted over to me and sniffed my outstretched fingers. Slowly, I reached out to pat its head, and it happily said its name again in response. Eevee's fur was soft and warm. I smiled, really smiled, for the first time in days– meeting Eevee was almost enough to make me forget how worried and upset I'd been feeling.

"Aw, so cute!" my aunt Sakura exclaimed. "Is it a boy or a girl?"  
"This one's a boy," said Professor Ookido.

"It looks like you two are going to get along just fine," my mom said.

That made me think of my dad, how Pikachu hadn't wanted anything to do with him when they first set out on their journey. Eevee watched me curiously as I picked up the Pokeball and stood.

"Return for now, Eevee," I said.

A white beam of light shot out of the ball and hit Eevee, turning him back into light and pulling him inside. I'd let him out again later, but now it was time to say good-bye to my family, and I didn't want Eevee to see me sad so soon after we'd met.

I inhaled deeply, tried to swallow the lump in my throat, and turned around.

"Well, Satsumi, this is it!" Professor Ookido said. "Good luck out there!"

"She won't need it!" Grandpa Ookido added, then said to me, "But you know who to call if you ever need any advice."

"And be sure to tell us about any new Pokemon you meet!" said Kenji.

"I will," I said. "Thank you all."

My aunt Sakura hugged me and said, "I love you, Sweetie."

She released me and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"You sure you don't, like, want a ride back to Viridian?" she asked. "I'd be happy to take you."

I shook my head.

"Thanks, but it wouldn't feel right to ride back after getting my first Pokemon. I want to start my journey now."

That was true, but there was another reason– I wasn't ready to leave for Nirakar. I wanted to start looking for my dad as soon as possible, but I could barely believe I was going to a foreign country all by myself. How was that even possible? I'd never been away from home on my own. I needed to take this slow, get used to journeying on my own, before I took the train to Celadon and boarded my plane.

"Ok," my Aunt Sakura said, "I understand." She winked at me and added "You're like, going to do great, I know it!"

"Of course she will," my grandmother said, "it runs in the family."

She pulled me into her arms and held me tight.

"I love you so much, Satsumi," she said, "and I'm so proud of you."

She stood back and wiped away a tear, then added "Do your best out there. But be careful, ok?"

"Ok, I will, I promise."

And then it was time for the hardest part of all– saying good-bye to my mom. She knelt down in front of me and rested her hand on my cheek.

"Oh, Satsumi..." she said.

"Mom..."

And that was it– I couldn't hold back the tears any longer. My mom wiped them away as they rolled down my cheeks.

"Don't cry, now," she said with a sad smile, "or I'll start, too!"

But even though my vision was blurred, I could see that there were already tears in her eyes.

"Mom... I'm really going to–"

I choked up and couldn't finish the sentence. I wanted to tell her how much I was going to miss her, and how sorry I was. It seemed like my mom was always getting left behind! When she and my dad were kids, they'd traveled for years together on their Pokemon journey. Then she'd had to go home to take care of the gym in Cerulean City while he went off and had more adventures. Now he was gone again, and I was leaving her, too? It wasn't fair! Especially when she'd sacrificed so much for me. My mom had been a member of the Elite Four, recognized as the strongest Water-type trainer in the country, until I was born so tiny. Both my parents stayed by my side constantly during my first couple of years, to make sure I was ok, but it was harder on her. Pokemon League Champion wasn't a job; my dad didn't have to make appearances. But when my mom couldn't fulfill her duties as an Elite Four member, she'd had to retire. And this was what she got in return? I wanted to find my dad for her sake, too, so we could be a family again... But if I was doing the right thing, why did I feel so terrible?

"I'm really going to miss you, too, Satsumi," my mom said.

She took my face between her hands and held my gaze.

"But I don't want to hold you back; I want you to go on your journey and meet new people and have new experiences."

"But you'll... you'll be..."

"I'll be fine. I'm going to stay with your Grandma, and Kenji and Shigeru and Grandpa Ookido are all right here."

"And I'll visit, like, all the time," Aunt Sakura added.

"See?" my mom said. "I'll have lots of company! So don't worry about me, ok?"

I nodded and said "Ok," but I didn't mean it.

We hugged each other tight, and I felt her warmth surround me one last time.

"I love you so much, Satsumi," my mom said softly in my ear.

"I love you, too, Mom," I replied, not even trying to hold in my sobs anymore.

What was I going to do without her? I'd never been away from her for more than a few days (and then I was with my grandmother). We let go of each other, and she tucked my hair behind my ear like she always did.

"You're going to be fine," she said through her tears. "Better than fine! Just be careful. And you know you can come home anytime you need to."

"I know."

"I'll let you know as soon as we hear something from your dad."

I nodded and wiped away tears."Ok then. Well, I guess this is good-bye."

"Yeah. Good... Good-bye."

The words came out so quiet and squeaky that I could barely hear myself, but my mom seemed to understand. She stood, kissed my forehead, and took two steps back from me. And with that, I turned and took the first steps of my Pokemon journey.


	5. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Eevee! Stop! This isn't a game!" I called, panting.

Eevee stopped, stood on his hind legs, and looked back at me over the tall grass.

"Eevee!" he squeaked happily.

"Come back!"

I aimed my Pokeball and the white light shot out, but he was already off again– all I could see of him was the tips of his ears bobbing up and down as he ran. I scrambled to catch up, but I just wasn't fast enough; it was only another minute before I had to stop again to catch my breath. Eevee popped up again, waiting for me to follow, but he still wasn't close enough for me to retrieve with my Pokeball. So we wove through the grass, starting and stopping, starting and stopping, until I heard a squeal up ahead.

I froze in mid-step, thinking for a second that Eevee was in trouble. Then I realized it wasn't his voice I'd heard. I hurried ahead to see what was happening, and found Eevee standing over a small Pokemon. I couldn't see past Eevee, but the curled purple tail sticking out from under him told me it was a Rattata he'd caught. Rattata twisted and shrieked, but it was useless– Eevee had its forelegs pinned to the ground. I felt sorry for it.

"Let it go, Eevee!" I called.

He turned his head to look at me, and that's when Rattata gave one final jerk and squirmed out from under him.

"Eevee!" Eevee cried as he stumbled.

In one smooth motion, the Rattata rolled onto its feet and leaped at Eevee, but Eevee jumped out of the way just in time. The two faced each other, heads lowered. Rattata's fur bristled and it bared its teeth at Eevee, but Eevee didn't seem scared. He flattened his ears, getting ready to attack. My legs felt shaky and my heart pounded– this was my first Pokemon battle. I took my Pokedex from my pocket, aimed it at Rattata, and pushed the Scan button at the bottom. The word _Scanning_ appeared on the screen, followed by the page on Rattata. There were pictures, maps, and lots and lots of text– too much information.

_Rattata is the Rat Pokemon,"_ the Pokedex recited in a pleasant female voice. _"It must spend all day gathering food in order to maintain its fast metabolism. Would you like to know more?_

"Yes!" I cried.

But at that moment, Eevee sprang and pounced on Rattatta. They rolled though the grass in a blur of brown and purple fur, growling and snarling the whole way. At one point, Eevee seemed to have Rattatta pinned again, but this time Rattatta used its smaller size to wriggle out from under him. By the time Eevee got to his feet, it had already disappeared into the grass. He stood at attention with his ears perked up, listening for any sounds of movement. But I couldn't hear anything. A breeze began to blow, rustling the grass.

"

_You have not chosen a topic, _my Pokedex said. _I have information on habitat, attacks, abilities, and general battle strategies. Would you still like to know more? _

"No," I said, sticking it back in my pocket. "It's gone, Eevee. Let's–"

At that moment, Rattatta burst out of the grass beside me and was on top of Eevee before he even had a chance to turn around. Rattatta bit Eevee's left ear, and he screamed in pain. He shook his head up and down, but Rattatta wouldn't let go, just bounced with the movement.

"Eevee, stop! You're only going to make it worse!" I called, but Eevee wasn't listening.

With one last shake, he sent Rattatta rolling. It was back in only a second, though, nipping at Eevee's ears, barely missing each time as Eevee backed away step by step.

"Run for the road, Eevee!" I called. "You'll be able to move better there!"

This time, Eevee obeyed; he turned and ran, with Rattatta close behind. I followed as fast as I could, but they were already several yards ahead of me by the time I made it to the path. And then I had to catch my breath again. And then, just when I was about to reach the spot where Eevee and Rattatta were facing off, the ground suddenly gave way under my feet.

"Ow!" I cried as I hit the bottom of the hole, but it hadn't really hurt; my fall had been cushioned by a bed of grass.

_What is this?_ I wondered. _Some kind of Pokemon trap?_

I stood, brushed myself off, and tried to pull myself out of the hole, but it was too deep– I could reach the edge when I jumped, but I couldn't get a good grip.

_Uh-oh, _I thought, _now what?_

I hadn't seen anyone else on the road all day; no one would come if I called for help. What about the girl and boy I'd seen on the ride to Pallet? They'd find me, wouldn't they? But what if they didn't? I was starting to panic, when someone appeared at the edge of the hole. The sun was behind them, so I couldn't really see what they looked like, but relief washed over me.

"Hey, um, can you help me?" I said. "I fell in this hole, and I can't get out."

"Oh, _really?_" said the boy (I could tell from his voice that he was definitely a boy).

Worry crept back into my chest, but I pushed it down– just because he was a little rude didn't mean he wasn't going to help me. For a second, I remembered my parents' stories about how Team Rocket used to trap them and try to steal their Pokemon... but what were the chances the same thing would happen to me?

"Y-yeah. So... can you help me out? Please?"

The boy went down on one knee, resting his arm on his other leg, and peered down at me.

"Sure, I'll help you out..."

"Oh, thank–"

"..._If_ you hand over your Pokemon."

I froze, still holding my hand out to him, and said, "Huh?"

"I _said,_ I'll help you out, _if_ you hand over your Pokemon."

I pulled my hand back and clenched my fist against my chest. That's what I'd thought he'd said. But this wasn't what I thought it was, was it? I had to be misunderstanding something.

"Why?" I asked.

"So I can steal them," the boy said matter-of-factly.

My body went cold and my mind went blank; this couldn't be happening. I stumbled backward into the wall of the hole and pressed myself against it.

"I'll take that as a no," he said, standing. "Well, nice meeting you, good luck getting out of there on your own."

"Wait!" I called as he started to walk away.

He turned back toward me.

"I, um... I don't have any Pokemon!"

My voice came out as a squeak.

The boy crossed his arms and said, "Do you _really_ expect me to believe that?"

I hadn't even thought about whether he'd believe it; it was just the first thing that popped into my head.

"I mean, I, um... I have a Pokemon... but not with me!"

"Oh. So you came out here, all alone, and just happened to forget your Pokemon. That sounds likely."

"I didn't forget! Eevee just ran ahead of me!"

"Eevee, huh?" the boy said, kneeling down again.

_Shoot._ I hadn't meant to tell him that.

"Um... yeah. He's really not with me, though– look!"

I held up Eevee's Pokeball and opened it in my hand, proving that it was empty.

The boy laughed and said, "I'm not stupid enough to be fooled by a trick like that, Brat."

"Huh? But... but it's empty, that proves–"

"It _proves_ that there's nothing in _that_ Pokeball. How do I know it ever had a Pokemon in it?"

My eyes went wide– I hadn't even thought of that.

"Ok, then–"

I dropped to my knees, took off my backpack, and pulled out my five unused Pokeballs. Then I opened them one by one to show that they were all empty.

"See?" I said.

"Hm..." the boy said.

_Now what? _I thought.

"Well, I guess a new trainer like you _wouldn't_ have more than five empty Pokeballs," he mumbled to himself.

"No, I wouldn't," I said, shaking my head. "I mean, I don't!"

"Ok."

"Ok? Does that mean you're going to help me?"

"Yes," the boy said.

I put away my Pokeballs, put on my backpack, and stepped toward him. I reached for his extended hands, my own shaking, and he grabbed on and pulled me up in one swift motion.

I was relieved to be back on solid ground, but the feeling didn't last. The boy held onto my right hand, only tightening his grip when I tried to pull away.

"Oh, no, you're not getting away that easy," he said.

I looked down at his hand wrapped around mine and was hit with a shock. White gloves, black clothes– I knew from my parents' stories that this was Team Rocket's uniform. Somehow the realization made the boy scarier, even though I'd already known he wanted to steal my Pokemon. I jerked away again without even thinking, but he held on tight.

"Come on," he said, pulling me forward.

I tripped and stumbled on shaky legs.

"Slow down!" I cried. "Where are you taking me?"

"To find Eevee."

He did slow down, at least. I was too afraid to look up at him, but I could tell the boy was bigger and older than me– my hand completely disappeared into his, and his stride was longer than mine. I got the sense that he was at least a foot taller than me. What was I going to do? There was no way I was going to get away from him on my own, and there was no one to help me.

"Call him," the boy said to me over his shoulder.

I hesitated; I was afraid of the boy, but I couldn't let him steal Eevee.

He stopped and turned, leaned toward me and said, "I _said _call him."

I turned my head away, too afraid to speak, and shook my head. The boy sighed deeply.

"Fine, have it your way," he said.

_What does that mean?_ I wondered

Still holding onto my hand, he turned away, cupped his mouth with his other hand, and called, "Eevee! Come out, come out, wherever you are! I've got your trainer here; you don't want me to hurt her, do you?"

At that, my knees buckled and I fell to the ground. Tiny, sharp pebbles dug into my knees and hand, sending pain shooting through my legs and arm. My heart pounded and I couldn't get enough air no matter how much I gasped. The edges of my vision started going dark.

My mind screamed, _Someone please help me. _

"Hey, kid, would you calm down?" the boy said. I could feel him looking down at me. "I'm just-"

Suddenly, I heard loud squawking and the sound of beating wings, and at the same moment, the boy let go of my hand.

"Ow, ow, ow," he cried. "What is this?!"

I looked up and saw four Spearow hovering around his head, feathers flying as they pecked and scratched at him. The boy stumbled back, covering his face with one hand and swatting at the Spearow with the other, but they stayed just out of his reach.

"What's wrong with you crazy birds?!" the boy yelled. "Leave me alone!"

I didn't know what was happening, and I didn't care. In one motion I got to my feet and started running as fast as I could.

"Hey, come back here!" the boy called, but I just ran even faster.

All I could see was the path in front of me, and all I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears. All of a sudden, a flash lit the air, but I didn't stop to see what it was. How long could I keep running like this, I wondered? How long did I have before the boy got away from the Spearow and caught up to me? Then, when I came over a hill, I saw two figures approaching in the distance. As I got closer, I could see it was the boy and girl from earlier. The girl was holding Eevee, who looked a little scratched up, but otherwise ok. When he saw me, he chirped his name, jumped out of her arms, and ran toward me.

"Eevee!" I called, crouching down to pat his head.

"Satsumi!" the girl cried.

_How does she know my name?_ I wondered. _Do I know her from somewhere?_

The girl and boy ran toward me until they were standing right over me. I looked up at them. Now I could see that they had the same bright green eyes. The girl was wearing jeans that stopped midway down her calves, and purple top with an orange stripe across the chest under a white vest. The boy wore regular jeans and a yellow t-shirt with a blue collar and sleeves.

"So this is your Eevee?" the girl asked. She tossed her ponytail. "He was having a little trouble with a Rattata, but don't worry; I helped him out."

Just then, I noticed footsteps coming up behind me, getting louder; I scooped up Eevee and held him tight, stood and backed away.

"Hey, are you ok?" the boy asked.

"What's wrong?" asked the girl when I didn't answer.

"Th-this boy..." I said, my thoughts racing too fast to explain more.

"A boy? What boy?" the girl asked.

The footsteps were getting even closer, and I moved behind the girl without thinking. The boy from Team Rocket appeared over the hill, slowing to a stop several feet away from us and leaning over to pant. His face was still hidden, but I could see that he had red hair (darker than my mom's) pulled into a ponytail that stuck out from the back of his head.

"Who are _you_?" the girl demanded, stepping directly in front of me. "What do you want with Satsumi?"

Instead of answering, the red-headed boy held up one finger to say _Wait a minute_ while he caught his breath. The brunette boy turned to me and said, "Who is this guy, Satsumi? Do you know him?"

"N-no," I answered quietly. "He tried to steal my Pokemon; I think he's from Team Rocket!"

The red-headed boy drew himself up, crossed his arms, and said, "That's right. Not that it's any of your business, but the name's Retsu."

I was finally able to get a good look at him; he had blue eyes (but darker than mine) that slanted in a way that made him look mean, and there were scratches on his face (from the Spearows' attack, I guessed). He had a gold earring in his left ear. Though his crossed arms covered some of it, I could see most of a red "R" across the front of his shirt, just where I'd expected it to be.

"You jerk!" the girl exclaimed, making a fist with her left hand and pointing at him with her right. "How dare you attack Satsumi?!"

Retsu turned aside slightly, but didn't back down.

"I didn't _attack_ her," he said.

"That's not what Satsumi says," said the brunette boy.

"She _said_ I tried to steal her Pokemon," Retsu said, turning back toward us.

The girl crossed her arms, cocked her head, and said, "Oh, _big_ difference."

"Yeah, it is!" Retsu insisted, leaning toward us now, fists held at his sides.

"So, what did you do, trap her in a hole?" the girl asked.

Retsu's face turned red, and he shifted his weight back and crossed his arms again.

"So what if I did?" he said.

"Wait, that's actually what you did?" the girl said, covering her mouth to stifle a laugh. "I was kidding; I didn't really think you were _that_ pathetic!"

Retsu turned even redder.

"Shut up!" he said, turning his face away. "I'm working with limited resources here!"

She leaned toward him and said, "So? You could at least show some originality!"

He leaned toward her and said, "Oh, like you could do any better!"

"Yeah, I could! For example–"

"Fuuka," the brunette boy said, grabbing her arm, "don't give him any ideas!"

_Fuuka... _The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember from where.

"Ah!" Fuuka exclaimed, covering her mouth. She pointed at Retsu and said, "You creep! You tried to trick me into giving me ideas!"

"Actually, I'm pretty sure you were about to volunteer," the brunette boy said, smiling with embarrassment.

Fuuka shook him off and muttered, "Shut up, Kazeo!"

_Kazeo_ sounded familiar, too. Where did I know these people from? But this wasn't the time to ask.

Fuuka turned back to Retsu, pointed at him, and said, "Anyway, I won't forgive you for trying to steal Satsumi's Pokemon, even if she _did _beat you!"

"Ok, let's get one thing straight," Retsu said, pointing right back at her, "she did _not_ beat me! She just didn't have her Pokemon with her!"

"Oh, well isn't that convenient?" Fuuka said, crossing her arms and shifting her weight back.

"No!" He yelled back. "It's not convenient! It was really _in_convenient!"

"He's telling the truth," I said. "Eevee's my only Pokemon, and he got away from me."

I was embarrassed to admit it, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

"Hm," Fuuka said, holding her chin high. "Well, you're really lucky, then, because Satsumi would've _destroyed_ you."

Retsu burst out laughing at that, bending over and holding his stomach.

"Oh, that's a good one!" he said. "As if I'd be beaten by a brat like her!"

My face went hot with anger and embarrassment. Eevee growled, and when I looked down at him, his fur was bristling.

But Fuuka just smiled to herself, put her hands on her hips, and said, "'A brat like her?' You really have no idea who you're dealing with, do you?"

Retsu stopped laughing and stood straight. He crossed his arms and raised one eyebrow.

"Um, no," he said, still sounding skeptical, "should I?"

"Of course you should," Fuuka said, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder and sticking her nose in the air. "Satsumi is none other than the daughter of Satoshi, the greatest Pokemon master of all time!"

Retsu stared back blankly.

"Who?" he asked.

"_Who?" _Fuuka exclaimed, lowering her head. "What do you mean, _who?"_

Kazeo pressed his hand to his face and mumbled, "Oh, no, here we go."

"I mean, _who?_" Retsu said.

"How can you not know who Satoshi is?!" Fuuka exclaimed. "Have you been living under a rock?"

Retsu pulled back and said, "No, I just don't keep up with that stuff!"

"Everyone knows who Satoshi is! He won the Sinnoh League Championship last year, and before that he won the Johto League Championship _and_ the Indigo League Championship."

"Oh, that guy," Retsu said.

"Yes, _that guy._"

"Eh, he's overrated," he said with a wave of his hand.

Anger flared up inside me again, and I dug my nails into my palms. Kazeo sucked in air through his teeth.

"You _really_ shouldn't have said that," he said.

"Overrated? Overrated?!" Fuuka yelled, now practically lunging at him as Kazeo held her back by both arms.

"Yeah, overrated," Retsu said. He shrugged. "I mean, he's pretty good, but Champion Hiroko is better."

"How can you even say that?! Hiroko only ever won one League Championship, Satoshi's won three!"

She jerked her arm away from Kazeo and held up three fingers to make her point.

_Why is she so upset?_ I wondered. Fuuka seemed angrier about what Retsu had said than me, and it was _my dad _he was talking about.

"Yeah, but Hiroko won the Kalos Championship last year, and the competition was _way_ tougher than anything Satoshi's faced."

"That's not true! Take it back!" Fuuka said, pointing at Retsu again.

"Yeah, take it back, for all our sakes!" Kazeo called, still holding onto her other arm.

"No," Retsu said.

"Take. It. Back!" Fuuka demanded.

"No!"

Fuuka pulled a Pokeball from her belt and said, "Fine, then I'll _make_ you take it back! Go, Gloom!"

"Oh, no," Kazeo said, letting her go to hold his nose with both hands.

I held my breath; I'd never seen a Gloom up close before, but from what I'd heard, I never _wanted_ to smell one up close.

Fuuka wound up and threw her Pokeball as hard as she could; a white light burst out and became a purple, ball-shaped Pokemon with a dark magenta flower growing out of its head.

"Gloom!" it exclaimed.

Kazeo was still holding his nose, but Fuuka and Retsu weren't, and they seemed fine. So I breathed in. There was a faint odor in the air, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expected. I shifted Eevee so I was holding him with one arm, pulled out my Pokedex and scanned it.

_Gloom is the Weed Pokemon, _it said. _When threatened, it emits a foul odor so strong that it can be smelled from up to a mile away. Would you like to know more?_

_Oh, that's right,_ I thought, _it has to be threatened first. _

My parents had mentioned that to me before, in a story about when they met the Celadon City gym leader, Erika.

"Fine," Retsu said, pulling out his own Pokeball and expanding it, "if that's the way you want to do things, go, Elekid!"

He threw his Pokeball, and out came a small, egg-shaped Pokemon with prongs on its head. It was yellow with two black stripes on its side and a lightning bolt on its stomach.

"Elekid!" it said.

_Elekid is the electric Pokemon,_ my Pokedex said when I scanned it. _It is unable to store much electricity, but it can create a current between its prongs by spinning its arms._

It spun its bulky arms around, and I could see blue electricity building between its prongs, just like the Pokedex said. Even though it was my enemy's Pokemon, I couldn't help thinking it was really cute.

"Elekid, huh?" Fuuka said, rubbing her chin. "Well, I feel bad for fighting a baby, but I guess it can't be helped."

She leaned forward, pointed across the battle area, and said, "Ok, Gloom, let's go! Time to turn on the stink!"

_Huh?_ I thought. _Is it even possible for Gloom to stink on command? _

I didn't plan on finding out, so I hurried to put my Pokedex away and hold my nose. I missed my pocket, though, and it fell to the ground with a _clack_. Before I could even pick it up, I was hit with a stench worse than anything I'd ever smelled; it was like a hundred dumps full of rotting garbage. I dropped Eevee and fell on my hands and knees, retching. Even when I held my nose, I could almost taste the awful stink. Beside me, Eevee whimpered and tried to cover his nose with his front paws.

"Ugh, that's _putrid!_" Retsu exclaimed. "What kind of weirdo would you even train a Pokemon like that?!"

I felt too sick to even look up, but judging from the gagging sounds he and Elekid were making, they were having a similar experience. As soon as I could, I pulled out Eevee's Pokeball and made him return; there was no reason for him to suffer through this.

"Don't call me a weirdo, you loser!" Fuuka yelled back.

She sounded fine, like she wasn't even holding her nose.

"Sorry about this, Satsumi," Kazeo said, still holding his own nose.

"I thought Gloom only stank when threatened!" I coughed out.

"Normally, yes, but Fuuka trained hers to do it at will."

"I call it my stink strategy!" Fuuka said.

"Well, I call it _disgusting!_" said Retsu. "Go, Elekid! Use Quick Attack!"

I forced myself to look up and saw Elekid stumble and weave toward Gloom in a (not very) quick attack. But when it was half way there, it lost its balance and fell flat on its face.

"Elekiiid," it said, crying and pounding the ground with its fists.

"Elekid!" Retsu called. "Get up! I know you can do it!"

But Elekid ignored him and kept up its tantrum. Gloom turned to Fuuka with its arm to its mouth and said, "Gloooom..."

"Come on, Gloom!" Fuuka said. "Concentrate! Remember, this guy tried to steal Satsumi's Pokemon; we can't let him get away with that!"

Gloom looked from Fuuka to Elekid and back, still touching its mouth.

"What's happening?" I asked Kazeo.

"I'm not sure," Kazeo said, "but I think Gloom feels sorry for Elekid, and she's lost the will to stink."

I let go of my nose, almost afraid to breathe in, but the smell really had lessened.

"Come on, Elekid," Retsu called, "Get it together! It's not so bad now!"

Elekid finally stopped crying, pushed itself up on one arm, and sniffed the air. Then it got up and shook itself.

"All right!" Retsu said, pointing toward Gloom. "Finish that Quick Attack!"

Elekid rushed toward Gloom so fast I could barely see it.

"Gloom, dodge it!" Fuuka called, but it was already too late.

Elekid slammed into Gloom, sending her tumbling backward into the grass.

"Gloom!" Fuuka called, pulling back and clenching her fist against her chest.

"Ha!" Retsu said, pumping his fist. "Nice job, Elekid!"

Elekid beamed proudly while Gloom crawled out of the grass and back onto the path.

"Are you ok, Gloom?" Fuuka asked, her voice worried."Can you keep going?"

Gloom got to her feet, shook herself off, and gave an enthusiastic "Gloom!"

The stink came back full force, and I quickly grabbed my nose and held on tight.

"Elekid!" Elekid said, crouching and holding its nose with both hands.

"Don't let it get to you, Elekid!" Retsu said, though he was holding his nose, too. "We're winning; just a little more to finish it off!"

Elekid kept holding onto its nose, but nodded.

"Hm!" Fuuka said, putting her hands on her hips. "He gets in one little Quick Attack and thinks he's winning! Well, we'll show him, won't we, Gloom?"

"Gloom!" Gloom said.

"Use Absorb!"

"Gloom!"

She leaned in Elekid's direction, and thin tendrils extended from the center of her flower to wrap around the opposing Pokemon. It jumped back in surprise.

"Shake it off, Elekid!" exckaimed Retsu.

Elekid shook itself as hard as it could, then pulled at the tendrils, but they didn't budge and he only ended up running in place.

"Nice try," Fuuka said, "but Gloom's tendrils stick like glue; you're not getting out of this one!"

Elekid's movements became smaller and slower as Gloom absorbed its energy.

"Don't give up!" Retsu called to it. "Put everything you've got into escaping!"

Elekid was panting from exhaustion, but it nodded and started spinning its arms around. Once again, I saw blue electricity build between its prongs.

"Gloom! Watch out!" Fuuka called. "It's going to use Thundershock!"

Elekid was dragged back as Gloom tried to pull back her tendrils, but they stayed stuck.

Suddenly, Elekid let out a burst of electricity that traveled up the tendrils and into her body. Gloom cried out and fell backward as the now-scorched tendrils released Elekid and withdrew into her flower. Elekid dropped down on one knee, still panting, and glared at her.

"Great job, Elekid!" Retsu called. "Just a little more, and–"

But before he could finish, Elekid fell flat on its face.

"Elekid!" Retsu called. "Are you ok?"

"Kiiiiid," Elekid groaned.

"Yes!" Fuuka exclaimed, jumping with her fist in the air. "We did it, we won!"

"You did_ not!_" Retsu said, glaring at her. He pointed at Gloom. "In case you didn't notice, your Pokemon is down, too!"

"Are you sure about that?" Fuuka replied.

Without being told, Gloom pushed herself to her feet, shook herself off, and flexed her stubby arms.

"Gloom Gloom!" she exclaimed.

Retsu gave a _tch_ as he pulled out his Pokeball and returned Elekid.

"You did a great job, anyway," he said softly to it.

"Yeah, Elekid _did_ do a great job," Fuuka called loudly. "Too bad it has such a loser for a trainer!"

"Hey, it was a close battle, ok?!" Retsu yelled back, his face going red again.

She shrugged and called Gloom back into her own Pokeball

"So? You still lost," Fuuka said, hand on her hip.

"Yeah, I know, you don't have to rub it in!"

"Well, of course I don't _have_ to." She flipped her ponytail again. "But it's more fun this way!"

Retsu crossed his arms, stood tall, and said, "Hm! Laugh while you can! But next time–"

"Next time?"

"Yeah, _next time._ What's wrong, you scared?"

Fuuka made a _pfft_ sound and waved her hand in front of her face.

"You wish!" she said. "I'm just surprised you're willing to face me again after that humiliating defeat."

"It was _not_ a humiliating defeat!" Retsu said, leaning toward her again.

"What would you call it, then?"

He jerked back, and his brow creased.

Suddenly he recovered and pointed at her. "Look, it was a defeat, but there was nothing _humiliating_ about it!"

"Says _you._"

"Look, Fuuka," Kazeo chimed in, "it was pretty close. Can we just–"

Fuuka turned on him and said, "Whose side are you on?!," while Retsu pointed at him and said, "I don't need you to feel sorry for me!"

Kazeo held up his hands defensively.

"Whoa, I'm on your side," he said to Fuuka, "and I definitely don't feel sorry for you," he said to Retsu. "I just have more important things to do than stand here listening to you two argue all day. Satsumi, too," he said, looking at me. "Today's the first day of her Pokemon journey; I'm sure she's got shopping to do, and–"

"

Oh!" Fuuka gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "You're right! I'm sorry, Satsumi!"

"That's ok," I said, "I really–"

"You apologize to Satsumi, too!" she continued, turning on Retsu.

He _tched_ again, crossed his arms, and turned his face away.

"Fine," he said. "_I'm sorry_ you have such an obnoxious friend."

"What?!" Fuuka exclaimed. She raised her fist and lunged at him, saying, "Why don't you come over here and say that?!," but Kazeo held her back.

"Run!" he said to Retsu, "I can't hold her back much longer!"

Retsu walked toward us until he was standing right beside Fuuka, then stopped.

"_I said, I'm sorry_ you have such an obnoxious friend." He said it to me, but he was looking straight down at her.

"I'll make _you_ sorry!" Fuuka exclaimed, pulling against Kazeo.

"You make me _laugh_," Retsu said, without laughing at all.

With that, he stalked away, in no hurry to escape.

"Hey! Come back here!" Fuuka called to his back, her fist in the air. "I'm not through with you yet!"

"Relax, Fuuka!" Kazeo said.

"Let me _go_, Kazeo, he's getting away!"

"So? You already beat him! Besides, I have a feeling you'll get another chance to battle him."

"Yeah, that's the problem," Fuuka said, but she did finally stop struggling, and Kazeo let her go.

She turned to me and said, "But I guess we can always beat him again, right, Satsumi?" with a wink.

"Um, yeah," I said, though I wondered why she'd said _we_.

She grinned and held out both hands to me, so I grabbed on, and she pulled me to my feet. I started to pull away and brush myself off, but Fuuka didn't let go.

"Oh, Satsumi, I'm so happy to finally see you again!" she gushed, squeezing my hands and leaning toward me.

I leaned back without thinking, and Kazeo said, "Calm down, Fuuka, you're scaring her. She probably doesn't even remember us."

Fuuka looked over my head at him and said, "She does so!" then turned back to me and said,

"Don't you, Satsumi?"

"Um, well…" I said, glancing around nervously.

"_See?" _Kazeo said.

"I'm sorry," I said.

I looked them over carefully, trying to find something I recognized. Therewas definitely something familiar about them—hadn't I seen those bright green eyes somewhere before? Then again, it seemed like I definitely would've remembered meeting someone like Fuuka.

"Don't be sorry," said Kazeo, stepping up beside me. "It was a long time ago; of course you don't remember us."

Fuuka seemed disappointed, but she nodded, let go of my hands, and stood straight.

"Kazeo's right," she said. "I'm the one who should be sorry; I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

"You didn't!" I said. "Thank you for helping me! I don't know what I would've done if I hadn't run into you!"

"Don't mention it!" Fuuka said. "It was my honor!"

"Um, so, how do we know each other?" I asked, unsure how to respond to her comment.

"Our parents are friends," Kazeo said. "We played together a few times when we were little."

I was suddenly hit with recognition.

"Oh! You're Aunt Haruka and Uncle Shuu's kids, right?"

"Yep!" Fuuka said, clapping her hands together. "See, you _do_ remember us!"

The truth was, I didn't remember ever playing with Fuuka and Kazeo, but I'd seen them, along with their parents, in photos from my childhood. Now I could see the resemblance—they'd grown up a lot, of course (I only came up to Kazeo's chin, and Fuuka was a little taller than him), but now I wondered how why I hadn't recognized them instantly. Especially since my parents sometimes mentioned the things Aunt Haruka told them about her kids over the phone—which region they were traveling in, what badges Fuuka had won.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, then caught myself. "I mean, I'm happy to see you, but my mom said your mom said you were in Unova."

"We came to see you, of course!" said Fuuka, clasping her hands near her face.

"The last time we talked to our mom, she said _your _mom said you were starting your Pokemon journey," Kazeo added. "We thought you might like some company."

At those words, I felt the weight on my heart lessen, and suddenly I could breathe easier.

"But… what about your own Pokemon journey?" I asked Fuuka.

"This will be part of it!" she replied, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder. "I have plenty of time to become a Pokemon Master. Actually, I think it's going to be kind of nice to take a break from gym battles—the pressure's off; I can relax and just enjoy traveling for a while."

"Yeah, you could definitely stand to relax a little," said Kazeo.

"Shut up, Kazeo," Fuuka replied automatically, still smiling.

"Thank you guys so much!" I said, tearing up a little. "I… I…"

I didn't know what to say.

"You don't have to thanks us," Fuuka said, "we're happy to be traveling with you, too! Right, Kazeo?"

"Right," he said, nodding. "I'll finally have someone sane to talk to!"

"_Kazeo,"_ Fuuka warned, glaring at him.

He ignored her and said, "So, are you ready to get moving, Satsumi?"

I nodded, and we continued my Pokemon journey, together.

"Eeveee! Come back!" I called.

I'd thought it'd be safe to let him out of his Pokeball- after his encounter with Rattata, he'd know better than to run off again, wouldn't he? Apparently, he wouldn't.

"Eevee, get back here!" Fuuka said in a commanding voice.

Eevee stopped in mid-step, paw still in the air, his ears pinned back and his tail drooping.

"I'm going to count to three: one, two..."

He turned around and padded back slowly, but kept his head turned away from Fuuka. When he sat at her feet, she gave him a quick rap on the head, making him chirp in protest. Then she crouched down in front of Eevee and said, "Satsumi's your trainer; you have to listen to her; she know's what's best for you. You don't want to get yourself in trouble again, do you?"

"Eevee..." he said, still refusing to look at her.

"Ok!" Fuuka said, smiling and standing. "There, he should listen now." Then she laughed and said, "For a while, anyway."

"Thank you, Fuuka," I said, but I didn't feel very grateful.

My cheeks burned- it was embarrassing enough that I couldn't control my own Pokemon, and then Fuuka had done it so easily. I felt so stupid.

"Don't worry, Satsumi," Kazeo said, stepping up beside me, "it just takes experience. Fuuka had trouble with her first Pokemon, too."

"Really?" I said.

"Yeah, my Mudkip started out really stubborn," Fuuka answered.

"Almost as stubborn as you!" Kazeo added.

"Hey!" Fuuka said, smiling. "I'm not stubborn; I'm determined!" Then, to me, "Even your dad struggled at first, right?"

I nodded, remembering the story of how he'd first met Pikachu, how Pikachu had been so "determined" that he'd had to tie him up and drag him along (while wearing rubber gloves so Pikachu couldn't shock him).

"You really know a lot about my dad, don't you?" I said.

"Thanks!" Fuuka replied brightly, though it hadn't really been a compliment. "I'm his number 1 fan! Oh, speaking of which, let me show you something!"

She reached into her inside vest pocket and pulled out her own Pokedex, which was a little bigger and a lot more scratched up than mine.

"I hope we're close enough to town to get a signal..." she said, poking at the screen. "Ah! Here we go!"

She turned the Dex around and handed it to me; on the screen was a webpage with a heading in big red letters that said, _To Be a Master: The Unofficial Satoshi Fan-Site._ Under this was a quote: "This is my favorite fan-site! You've done a great job here! Thanks for your support! Keep up the good work! -Satoshi."

My chest tightened; I knew people weren't always honest about who they were on the Pokeweb, but somehow I was sure that the choppy, over-excited sentences were my dad's. I quickly scrolled down, only to see a video news report about my dad's disappearance under the heading "Recent News." There was a post underneath by "Satoshi's #1 Fan" (Fuuka, I assumed) that said, "Satoshi, if you're reading this, your fans are all thinking of you and hoping for your safe return!"

Suddenly, an image flashed in my mind, of my last glance of my mom. I'd only turned around once, but that was enough to see her with her face pressed against my aunt Sakura's shoulder, her own shoulders shaking. My aunt Sakura wrapped her arms around her, and my grandmother put her hand on her back, but nothing seemed to help.

The Pokedex screen blurred through the tears forming in my eyes; I held my breath and tried to hold them back, but they spilled over and ran down my cheeks.

"Oh, Satsumi, I'm so sorry!" Fuuka exclaimed. "What was I thinking? I'm such an idiot!"

"No, you're not," I said, shaking my head and wiping away tears.

I handed the Dex back to her, and she put it away.

"I'm just a crybaby," I continued, trying but failing to stop my voice from breaking.

Then Kazeo stepped toward me and put his hand on my shoulder. When I looked up at him, he was staring down at me kindly.

"Don't be silly," he said. "Who wouldn't cry at a time like this?"

"Kazeo's right," said Fuuka, putting her hand on my other shoulder. "You're crying because you love your dad and you're worried about him, right? That's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Their words only made the tears come faster, but at least I felt better about it.

"Don't worry," Fuuka continued, "he'll definitely come home safe; nothing can defeat Satoshi!"

She pumped her fist, and I nodded along, but inside, I didn't feel so sure.

"Plus, Fuuka's got her fan-army looking for him," Kazeo added.

"Really?" I asked, looking up at her.

"Of course," she said. "Everyone's sharing everything they know, and some of Satoshi's Nirakar fans are investigating for more evidence."

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat; I'd been nervous about telling them my plan, but this was the opportunity I'd been waiting for.

"Actually..." I started. "The truth is..."

"What is it, Satsumi?" Fuuka asked, bending slightly so she was on my level.

She tried to meet my eyes, but I turned my face to the ground.

"I- the reason I started my Pokemon journey is to look for my dad." I said in a rush.

"I thought so!" Fuuka exclaimed, jumping up and clapping her hands together.

I jumped back, startled by her reaction.

"Y—you did?" I asked.

"Mm-hmm," Fuuka said, nodding. She put one hand on her hip and flipped her ponytail. "You _are_ Satoshi's daughter, after all, and it's exactly what he'd do at a time like this. I just _knew_ you'd be brave like him!"

How she could say I was brave when I was standing there with my face all red and wet? I was nothing like my dad. He wasn't afraid of anything, but I'd barely even been able to leave home. But I didn't Fuuka any of that. Instead, I looked back up at her and said, "So you'll help me?"

"Of course!" Fuuka replied. She took both my hands. "I'd be _honored_ to help you find your dad!"

"That's actually what she was hoping for," Kazeo said, putting his arm between us and forcing Fuuka back a few steps.

"Really?" I asked.

"Of course!" she said. "Satoshi's my hero, and you're my friend. I want to help both of you out!"

I turned to Kazeo and said, "And you're ok with it, too?"

"Sure!" he replied, nodding. "I don't idolize your dad like Fuuka does, but you're my friend."

"But... It might be dangerous," I said.

"All the more reason for us to come with you," Kazeo said.

Fuuka held her chin up and smiled wickedly.

"I laugh in the face of danger," she said.

"She really does," Kazeo said, pointing sideways at her, "it's kind of scary."

Fuuka glared at him, but he ignored her.

"You guys... Thank you... Thank you so much..." I said, my voice still shaky.

"Don't mention it," said Kazeo. "You're our friend, Satsumi; we want to help you."

Fuuka nodded, smiling softly.

"Ok," I said. "But I'm still really grateful."

And this time I really meant it.


	6. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When my mom was a little younger than me, she ran away from home. Her beautiful older sisters were always teasing her, calling her the runt of the family, but there was one thing she knew she could beat them at- Pokemon training. Her family owned the Cerulean City gym, but her sisters never took it seriously. They did train their Pokemon- to perform in their stupid water ballets. They didn't care about Pokemon battles at all, and were always losing matches. So my mom set out on a journey to become a great water Pokemon trainer. When she was strong enough, she'd come home, take over the gym, and save its reputation. That'd show her sisters.

The first step, she thought, was to catch some powerful Pokemon, so as soon as she reached the river, she sat down and took out her fishing pole. It wasn't long before she hooked something- something big. Could it be the Seaking she'd hoped for? my mom wondered as she struggled to reel it in. But it wasn't; it wasn't a Pokemon at all. Much to her disappointment, what my mom had pulled out of the water and onto the riverbank was "just some kid."

That's how my parents met. Staring out at the same river, I couldn't help thinking of the story... and how it had turned out. It made me so sad to think of that girl, who had no idea of what was ahead of her- how deeply she'd come to love that boy, how happy her life with him would be... how heartbroken she'd be when he disappeared.

"Satsumi, are you ok?" Fuuka asked, stopping to turn around and look at me. "Do you need to rest?"

_Stop it, _I told myself, _stop thinking about it._

After all, I was going to make sure the story didn't end that way, wasn't I? Wasn't that the reason I was starting my journey in the first place?

"No, I'm fine!" I replied to Fuuka, smiling big and hoping she didn't notice my tears.

Kazeo stopped mid-step and looked over his shoulder at me.

"Are you sure?" Fuuka asked. "You're crying, what's wrong?"

I wiped my face with the back of my hand and said, "Nothing! The light reflecting off the river just made my eyes water!"

I'd actually thought of that excuse when I'd started crying, in case Fuuka and Kazeo saw.

Fuuka looked out at the river.

"But it's not that bright; are you sure-"

"She's sure, Fuuka, leave her alone." Kazeo interrupted, turning more toward us.

"I'm just worried about her," Fuuka insisted, crossing her arms and furrowing her brow at him.

"Well, maybe she doesn't want you to worry about her," Kazeo said.

"Why wouldn't she? We're friends, right?" She turned to me and said, "Satsumi, I'm not bothering you, right?"

"Of course not!" I answered automatically.

"See?" Fuuka said, throwing Kazeo a smug look.

She walked over to me and leaned down so our faces were even, putting her hand on my shoulder.

"Are you tired?" she asked. "Do your feet hurt?"

"No, I'm fine," I said, pulling back from her a bit.

"Are you sure?" Fuuka said, leaning toward me more. "You've been falling behind, maybe we should stop for a rest."

I took a step back.

"I-I'm really fine! I can keep going! We're getting really close to Viridian City, right?"

Kazeo turned to the river and looked up at the sky, shielding his eyes from the sun.

"It's still a few hours away," he said. "We should probably start looking for a place to camp."

I squinted at the sun, too- it was still pretty high above the river.

"I know it seems like we have plenty of light left," Kazeo said. I looked at him, and saw him looking back at me. "But it gets dark faster than you'd think, and we don't know how long it'll take to find a good spot and set up."

"Ok," I said, nodding, embarrassed that I'd shown my doubts on my face.

The ground sloped upward now, and there were more trees, so we had to walk a little while before we found a good place. Finally, though, we came across a little clearing between the road and the river where the ground was flat and the grass was short.

"This looks good," Kazeo said.

"Yeah," Fuuka agreed.

They walked to the spot and set down their backpacks, and I followed.

"I'll collect firewood if you'll treat Gloom while I'm gone," Fuuka said to Kazeo.

"Sure," he replied.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, then held out his hands for Fuuka's Pokeball. She tossed it to him, and he caught it easily. Then she waved, said, "See you later," and turned to go.

"Wait, I'll help you," I said, starting to follow her.

Fuuka turned around and kept walking, backward, waving her hand at me.

"It's ok, Satsumi, I've got this. You just stay here and relax."

Then she turned around and kept going. I watched her for a second, walked closer to Kazeo, set down my backpack, and sat down, hugging my knees. It was such a relief to sit- my legs and feet were so tired and achy- but somehow, I still felt like I should be doing something, like I hadn't tried hard enough to help out.

"Come on out, Gloom," Kazeo said, opening the Pokeball and releasing her.

"Gloom!" Gloom said when she took shape.

Kazeo patted her on the head and said, "Are you ready for some Pokedrops, Gloom?"

"Gloom Gloom!" she replied excitedly, bouncing up and down on her toes.

I smiled to myself, surprised she could still be so energetic after such a tough battle.

Kazeo opened his backpack and took out a clear bottle filled with colorful drops that looked like candy. Gloom reached for them as he unscrewed the lid.

"Wait a minute!" he said with a laugh, raising them above his head.

Gloom reached higher, jumped up and down and swiped at the bottle, even though there was no way she could get to it.

"Hey, I'm not going to give you any if you can't be patient," Kazeo said. "You know how this goes."

Gloom backed down then, but crossed her arms and tapped her foot at Kazeo as he took his time getting the bottle open. When he finally poured a few of the drops into his hand, she stood back and opened her mouth wide. Kazeo tossed them into the air, and she caught them in her mouth and gulped them down greedily.

"Glooom," she said contentedly when she'd finished, putting her hands to her cheeks.

"What is that?" I asked Kazeo.

"This? It's a Pokemon medicine I made that speeds up healing; I call them Pokedrops."

"You made them yourself? That's amazing!"

Kazeo shrugged and said, "Not really. It's pretty easy once you've got the basics down."

I couldn't imagine ever being able to do something like that, but I didn't say so.

"Hey," Kazeo said suddenly, "You want to let Eevee try some?"

"Really? You don't mind?" I asked.

Kazeo smiled and said, "Of course not! I made them for Pokemon to enjoy, after all."

"But don't you want to save them for your own Pokemon?"

"Oh, I don't have any Pokemon of my own," Kazeo answered.

"What?" I asked, surprised. "Why not?"

Kazeo leaned back and shrugged and said, "I'm just not interested in training them. I'm happy being friends with my friends' Pokemon."

I thought of my parents' friend Takeshi; he was a Pokemon doctor, not a trainer, but he still had his own Pokemon. And a lot of people kept them as pets instead of battle partners. But I didn't tell Kazeo what I was thinking.

"So, can I give Eevee some Pokedrops?"

"Yes, please!" I said, nodding.

I pulled out Eevee's Pokeball and called him out again.

"Eevee!" he said cheerfully when he appeared.

But the second he saw Gloom, he ran behind me, crouched down, and covered his nose with his paws.

"It's ok, Eevee," I said, turning around to look down at him. "Gloom isn't stinking right now."

Eevee looked from Gloom to me, then back at Gloom, but didn't uncover his nose.

"Vee..." he said, sounding unsure.

"Satsumi's right," Kazeo said.

He picked Gloom up and sat her on his lap. Then he lowered his face to her flower and inhaled deeply through his nose.

"See?" he said looking back up at Eevee. "Smells fine!"

Slowly, Eevee uncovered his nose. He sniffed the air hesitantly. Then, carefully, ears and head still lowered, he stepped toward them. When he reached Gloom, he stopped and sniffed in her direction again, more confidently this time.

"Eevee?" he said to her, cocking his head.

"Gloom, Gloom Gloom," Gloom responded, jumping out of Kazeo's lap and reaching up to touch her flower. "Gloom Gloom Gloom Gloom Gloom."

"Vee, Eevee!" Eevee said.

"I wonder what they're talking about?" I said.

"I think Gloom's explaining to Eevee that she only stinks during battles," said Kazeo, leaning back and watching them.

"Really? How can you tell?" I asked.

Kazeo shrugged and said, "Just from watching and listening."

"Wow, I wish I could do that," I said.

"You can," said Kazeo, sitting back up and smiling at me. "It's easy if you just pay attention."

I didn't think it was that simple, but I didn't say so.

Kazeo picked up the bottle of Pokedrops and showed them to Eevee.

"Hey, Eevee, you want a treat?" he asked, shaking the bottle and making the drops bounce around inside.

"Eevee!" Eevee said, his ears perking up.

Kazeo started to open the bottle, but Gloom pushed Eevee back and opened her mouth wide. Eevee pushed back, and the two of them started to struggle with each other. Kazeo tapped Gloom on the head and said, "You've already had yours, Gloom, it's Eevee's turn. If you can't behave, you're going back in the Pokeball."

"Gloom!" Gloom huffed.

She turned away, crossed her arms, and sat on the ground. But at least she backed down.

Eevee stepped up, and Kazeo tossed a few Pokedrops into his mouth. Eevee squealed in delight as he ate them, then pawed at Kazeo for more.

Kazeo laughed, rubbed Eevee's head, and said, "I'm glad you like it, but that's all for today. It wouldn't be fair to give you more than Gloom, would it?"

"Eevee..." Eevee said, lowering his ears in disappointment.

Kazeo screwed the lid back on the jar and put it back in his backpack. Then he took out a plastic squirt bottle.

"But I can make those scratches feel better."

"Gloom!" Gloom said, sitting up and turning around.

"Yeah, you, too, Gloom, of course," Kazeo said, patting her on the head.

He sprayed a fine mist of whatever was in the bottle over both Pokemon, and they sat back and enjoyed the feel of it.

"Veeeee," Eevee cooed.

Suddenly, Kazeo looked up at me and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, Satsumi, I forgot to ask you first."

I shook my head and said, "It's fine! You don't have to apologize. Thank you!"

But it wasn't fine. It wasn't that Kazeo had forgotten to ask me; I really was grateful to him for helping Eevee. But why did he have to get along so well with _my_ Pokemon? It seemed like he understood Eevee better than I did. I knew I shouldn't be jealous, but...

Kazeo noticed me watching and said, "What's wrong, Satsumi?"

I sat up straight, smiled, and held out my hands, waving them side to side.

"Nothing!" I said. I relaxed a little, but kept smiling. "I guess I'm just kind of tired, that's all."

"I guess you are," Kazeo said, smiling and nodding. "You're not used to so much walking. Hey, I know!"

He reached into his bag for the third time and pulled out a small glass jar with some kind of white cream inside.

"Here," he said, tossing it to me.

When I caught the jar, it was heavier than I'd expected. The glass felt cool on my skin. I turned it around in my hands and read the label on the side: _Topical Anti-Bacterial and Analgesic, _followed by a list of ingredients and expiration date in smaller writing.

"Put that on your feet," Kazeo said.

I looked up from the bottle at him.

"You've got blisters, right?" he added.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Because, you were walking funny earlier, on the sides of your feet," Kazeo said, taking a glass tube out of the pouch at his hip. "You looked like you were in pain."

"Oh," I said. I shifting my gaze to the side, away from his face. "Thank you."

Kazeo laughed and said, "No need to be embarrassed; we're friends, right?"

He leaned over Gloom and held the tube under her mouth to catch her drool. I wondered what he was going to use it for.

"Yeah," I said automatically, still not meeting his eyes.

"Satsumi..." he said, a question in his voice.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"What's up? Is something bothering you?"

"No!" I said, sitting up straight and looking back at him. "Why?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you," Kazeo said. He uncrossed his legs and leaned back. "It's just, you seem kind of uncomfortable."

I didn't know what to say, so I took off my shoes and unscrewed the lid of the jar. A pleasant herbal scent hit my nose. I drew my feet up, dipped my fingers in the cream, and rubbed it into my broken blisters. Instantly, the pain disappeared. I stretched my foot and spread my toes, enjoying the wonderful cool feeling of the medicine. Eevee trotted over and sniffed my toes, then sat between Kazeo and me and watched us as we talked. He seemed tired after the long day, but at least he'd calmed down.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Kazeo continued, putting away the tube. He pulled Gloom back into his lap. "It's none of my business."

"No, it's fine," I said, looking up, "it's just..."

"Just what?"

"Just... you and Fuuka keep saying we're friends." I realized how that sounded and exclaimed, "Not that I don't want to be!" I looked down again, pretending to focus on screwing the lid back on the jar. "It's just, we haven't seen each other since we were little kids, right? You barely know me."

"But we _do _know you, Satsumi!"

I jumped and cried out at the voice behind me, and whipped around to see Fuuka standing behind me with an armful of firewood

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she said.

She walked to a point halfway between me and Kazeo and dropped the wood on the ground with a loud clatter, making Eevee jump back, then dusted her hands off. Gloom jumped out of Kazeo's lap, trotted up to Fuuka, and said her own name in a greeting.

"Hey, Gloom, were you good for Kazeo?" Fuuka asked, picking her up.

"Glooom!" Gloom responded.

"So, um..." I started.

"Oh, right," Fuuka said, coming to sit by me and setting Gloom in her lap. "Like I was saying, we totally know you, because your dad talks about you so much in his interviews. He's always going on about smart and sweet you are, how understanding you are when he has to go away, and how brave you were when you were sick."

She counted the points on her fingers.

"Oh, I get it," I said.

So that was it. Of course my dad said nice things about me, he was my dad. Had he ever told about the times I'd gotten mad at him for leaving? How, once, when he tried to explain that he loved me and my mom more than anything, I'd yelled, "No, you don't, all you care about is Pokemon training!" and run up to my room and slammed my door? How sometimes I wouldn't talk to him no matter how hard he tried to win me over? No, of course not. My dad would never tell on me, or even blame me, for the stupid, mean things I'd done and said. That was the worst part- I'd made him feel terrible. It'd been years since I'd thrown a tantrum like that, but I'd been a total brat. And I hadn't been brave when I was sick, either; I'd been frustrated and depressed, even scared. Suddenly I felt guilty, like I was lying to Fuuka and Kazeo. But I couldn't tell them the truth- what would they think?

"Satsumi knows hardly anything about us, though" Kazeo said, standing and coming to sit on my other side.

"I guess that's true," Fuuka said thoughtfully. Then, more cheerfully, "But don't worry; we'll fix that in no time!"

I nodded and tried to smile.

"Let's see, where should I start?" she asked herself, looking up and holding a finger to her mouth. Then she clapped her hands together, making Gloom jump this time. "Oh, I know! I should tell you how I became a Pokemon trainer! You see, my mom tried to push me into Pokemon Contests-"

"She didn't try to _push_ you into anything," Kazeo said.

Fuuka leaned past me to glare at him.

"You only say that because it wasn't _you_," she said.

"Come on, Fuuka, she just wanted you to try it and see if you liked it," Kazeo insisted.

"Well, I didn't." Fuuka said. "I had to wear these ugly, scratchy dresses, and make my Pokemon do a bunch of stupid tricks. Like, who cares how their attacks _look_, you know? What really matters is how strong they are."

"Fuuka-" Kazeo warned, arching an eyebrow.

"I know, I know, contests take talent and hard work, too," she said.

That was something my dad always said.

"But they couldn't help you when you got bullied," Fuuka continued.

"Bullied?" I asked.

"Yeah," Kazeo answered, rubbing the back of his head and smiling. "I was kind of a crybaby when I was little. The other kids picked on me for it."

"That's terrible!" I said.

It surprised me- Kazeo seemed so cool, I couldn't imagine him crying or getting picked on.

"Luckily, he had me to protect him," Fuuka said, pointing at herself and puffing her chest up.

"When you weren't picking on me yourself," said Kazeo.

"That's different," Fuuka said with a wave of her hand, "I'm your sister."

"Doesn't that just make it worse?" Kazeo asked.

"Anyway," Fuuka continued, eyes sparkling, "I got in a lot of fights defending Kazeo. That got me in trouble with my parents, but what choice did I have? I couldn't let those kids get away with making my little brother cry. Then one day, I saw your dad in a tournament on TV; he was _so_ amazing," she said, balling her fists and throwing her head back. "When Pikachu used Thunder at the last minute and beat that Aurorus, oh, man, I could hardly believe what I was seeing! I mean, Aurorus was so huge and powerful, and Pikachu was so-"

"Fuuka, slow down a little," Kazeo said, smiling and holding his hands up. She'd been getting faster and louder as she talked. "You're going to freak Satsumi out."

Fuuka blushed and hunched over a little, hugging Gloom.

"Sorry, Satsumi," she said, "I just get a little too excited sometimes."

"Yeah, you do," Kazeo said.

Fuuka pulled her bottom eyelid down and stuck her tongue out at him, then sat up and continued, "My mom told me that she'd traveled with your dad when they were younger, and they'd had all kinds of adventures, like when they met the legendary Pokemon Jirachi, or when they helped Lucario save the tree of Beginning."

My dad had told me those stories, and I'd always loved them. Now, though, they scared me, because they reminded me that my dad was the type to throw himself into danger without thinking. He'd always been ok before, but what if this time...?

Fuuka leaned toward me and kept going, one hand on the ground to support herself, the holding onto Gloom, as I leaned away from her:

"I thought, wow, there's nothing Satoshi can't do! He always beats the bad guys and protects people and Pokemon! I decided that I wanted to be just like him someday."

She pulled back suddenly, gave a big smile, held up one finger, and said, "And that's why I wanted to become a Pokemon trainer."

"Wow, that's amazing, Fuuka!" I said, smiling my brightest.

"Thanks," Fuuka said, still grinning, "But I still have a looong way to go before I'm anywhere near Satoshi's level." She paused and added, "Though even Satoshi had to start somewhere, I guess." Then she leaned forward to look at Kazeo and said, "Your turn, Kazeo!"

"What, me?" he said, pointing at himself. "There's not really much to tell." He shrugged. "I started making potions because Fuuka's Pokemon- my mom's Pokemon, then- kept getting injured because of me. I wanted to help somehow, even if I was too young to battle like Fuuka."

Had he _ever_ tried battling, I wondered?

"Don't be so modest, it's annoying," Fuuka said, leaning forward to glare at him. Then she sat up and looked at me. "Kazeo's medicines are much better than the stuff you buy at Pokemarts," she explained, "because he makes them based on each Pokemon's tastes and needs. So they heal Pokemon better and help them grow!" she paused. "Plus," she added, "Pokemon really love the taste of Kazeo's medicines."

"Cut it out, Fuuka," Kazeo said to her. "It's not that big a deal."

"Well, _I _think it is," Fuuka said, leaning past me to glare at him again.

"That's just because you don't know anything about it," Kazeo spat back. "I'm just an amateur."

I looked back and forth between them as they argued. He didn't sound like he was being modest to me; he sounded like he was really irritated with her. I didn't understand why. After all, wasn't she praising him?

"And with that attitude, you always will be," Fuuka said.

Kazeo didn't answer this time, but the air felt heavy as they stared each other down. I felt like I should say something, but also like it wasn't any of my business. Finally, Kazeo glanced at me, relaxed, and said, "Come on, let's stop this, we're making Satsumi uncomfortable."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Satsumi," Fuuka said, sitting up and covering her mouth. "I wasn't thinking."

"It's ok, I'm fine!" I said.

"Still, we should be more considerate," Fuuka said.

Kazeo stood, brushed himself off, and said, "We should start working on dinner, anyway. Fuuka, will you light the fire?"

"Sure," she said, putting Gloom on the ground and standing. She took out Gloom's Pokeball and said, "Better come back, Gloom, don't want you catching fire!"

Once Gloom was back in her Pokeball, Fuuka walked down to the river bank and squatted down for a couple of minutes, gathering something. When she came back, her arms were full of smooth, round rocks. She carried them easily to the firewood, knelt down, and started arranging them in a circle around it. Then she took off her backpack, dug through it, and pulled out a box of matches.

Meanwhile, Kazeo took a large pot out of his backpack, along with plastic containers of food.

"What should I do?" I asked.

Fuuka looked up from lighting the fire and said, "You just rest, Satsumi! We've got this covered."

I knew I should try again, but my body felt so tired and heavy that I never wanted to stand up again. I would help out next time, I told myself.

Kazeo took out an arched metal stand and set it up over the firewood while Fuuka stoked and fanned the fire. Once it was going, she took the pot and ran down to the river to get water. She gave it to Kazeo, who hung it over the fire and dumped in the ingredients. Fuuka sat back while Kazeo stirred the pot with a big ladle, and I watched them in the fading light. My eyelids started to droop, and I had to fight to keep my head up. Soon, the stew was bubbling noisily and sending thick steam into the air. I hadn't realized how hungry I was, but the delicious smell was making my mouth water. I couldn't wait for it to be ready. Finally, Kazeo ladled out wooden bowls for all of us, and we sat around the fire and dug in. But when I took a bite, I suddenly felt sick. It was hard to swallow. I cut my food into smaller pieces with my fork, hoping that would make it easier to eat.

"What's wrong, Satsumi?" Fuuka asked, lowering her fork with a concerned look on her face. "You don't like it?"

"No, it's delicious!" I said, sitting straight and shaking my head. "I guess I'm just not very hungry."

"Probably because you're tired," Kazeo said, smiling. "But you need to eat to keep your energy up; we're going to be doing a lot of walking tomorrow, too."

I knew that. But I nodded and did my best to force my food down.

When bedtime came, the three of us rolled out our sleeping bags and said good-night. I was exhausted, and it felt wonderful to finally be able to lie down and close my eyes. I thought I'd fall asleep right away. But the ground beneath my back felt too hard, and I couldn't get comfortable no matter which way I turned. I didn't want to keep Fuuka and Kazeo awake, so finally I settled on a position and kept still. But I still couldn't sleep. I wondered where my dad was at that moment, what he was doing. I thought about my mom back home, whether she was having as much trouble sleeping as I was. Suddenly, I felt so homesick. What did I think I was doing? I'd barely gotten through the day, how was I ever going to keep this up long enough to find my dad? But I couldn't just give up, could I? The chirp of the insects and the rush of the river, the cold, far away stars, everything around me felt lonely. The harder I tried not to cry, more tears spilled over my eyelids. I didn't want to bother Fuuka and Kazeo, so I breathed in deep. Held my sob tight in my lungs. Exhaled in a slow, shuddering breath. Again. And again. But then my nose started getting stuffy and runny. Finally, I had to sniff. And then I couldn't stop sniffing.

Fuuka's whispered voice came from my right, saying, "Satsumi, are you crying?"

I turned my head and saw her outlined in the darkness, propping herself up on one elbow.

"Um..." I said, wiping my eyes with my arm to cover them.

The truth was, I'd half wanted her to hear, but now that she had, I was embarrassed.

"Oh, Satsumi," Fuuka continued, reaching out to touch my shoulder, "it's ok. Everything's going to be ok."

What made her so sure, I wondered?

"I don't know if I can do this," I blurted out, my eyes closed tight.

"What are you saying? Of course you can!" Fuuka said. "You're Satoshi's daughter, after all!"

_That doesn't mean anything! _I wanted to scream, even though she was only being nice.

Instead, I said, "I'm not strong like my dad! It's only been one day, and I'm already so..."

"Aren't you expecting too much from yourself?" said Kazeo.

I heard a rustling sound, and looked over to see his silhouette sitting up in the darkness on Fuuka's other side.

"You're exhausted _because_ it's only been one day," he continued, "it takes a while to get used to this."

"Not for my dad," I said. "At least, he wasn't..." I choked up.

He wasn't crying and wishing he could just go home.

"Yeah, well, Satoshi wasn't dealing with as much as you are." Fuuka said. "I bet even he'd have had a hard time if he'd been in your shoes. Right, Kazeo?"

"Right," Kazeo said. "I had a hard time when I was starting out, too."

"Really?" I asked.

"Really?" asked Fuuka, turning over to look at him. "You never said anything about it to me."

"That's because I didn't want to slow you down," Kazeo said. "But I was pretty miserable for the first week or so."

"So what did you do?" I asked, feeling a little more hopeful.

"I just had to keep going," he said.

It helped a little to know that he'd gotten through it, but I didn't know if I could push myself that far.Kazeo couldn't have struggled as much as me, if Fuuka hadn't noticed.

"There was one thing that helped," Kazeo added.

"What?" I asked.

"Well, whenever I thought about the long journey ahead of me, I felt like it was impossible for me," he said, laughing a little at himself. "But then I started focusing on just getting through the day, and that made it seem easier. A _lot_ easier. Pretty soon, I realized I wasn't thinking about it at all anymore."

I thought about it- it seemed like it _might_ work.

"Ok," I said, wiping my eyes, "I'll try that."

"And don't forget," Fuuka added, "we've always got your back. You can rely on us as much as you need to!"

"Thanks," I said, nodding.

_That's right,_ I told myself, _I'm not alone._

I repeated it to myself over and over as I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep.


	7. Interlude 2

Interlude

_I don't visit my father's library much. Why sit in the cold, dark gloom, surrounded by dusty stone tablets, when I could be enjoying the fresh air and sunlight of the garden?_

_But Sena seems right at home here. He cradles the tablet he's carrying in both arms, as if it were a child, and when he reaches the table in front of me, he lays it down so gently that it makes no sound against the thick wood. He runs his slim fingers over the engraved letters, his touch is a caress. A faint smile lights his face. In the year I've known him, I've never seen Sena look this... happy. To look at him, you'd think he was meeting an old friend. A chill runs down my spine, despite the warmth of Arcanine resting against me- what kind of person feels so much for a thing like this? When I speak, it's mostly to break the eerie silence._

"_Care to tell me exactly what this is, Sena?" I ask._

_He looks up at me with wide eyes, as if he'd forgotten I was here and is surprised to find me. The flickering lamplight makes his skin look white and ghostly, casts strange shadows on his face. I resist a shiver._

"_Well?" I say, trying to sound bored._

_Sena looks at the tablet again, then back to me._

"_Yes, Your Highness," he says, obviously flustered, "this is a history. From Shul."_

"_I already know the history of Shul," I say, not that there's much to know._

_Sena nods._

"_Yes, Your Highness, I'm sure you do. But this is history _according_ to the people of Shul."_

"_What do you mean?" I ask, narrowing my eyes. "History is history. It's the same no matter who's telling it."_

"_That's not entirely true, Your Highness," Sena says. _

_I sit up straight and tall and say, "Are you contradicting me, Sena?"_

_Sena pulls back and holds out his open palms. "All I mean is, there are some important differences between the stories told in Urutu and the ones told in Shul."_

"_Yes, I understand that. What I don't understand, is what you hope to accomplish by teaching me lies."_

_Even in the dim light, I can see Sena's jaw clench, the flash of anger in his eyes. A jolt runs through me, but somehow I'm able to keep myself from recoiling. Arcanine lifts his head from his paws and looks to me. My eyes dart to him for only an instant- not long enough for Sena to notice, I hope. I relax my grip on Arcanine's fur and try to regain my composure. That's right, I have nothing to fear from Sena, not with Arcanine here. Sena seems to remember his place, too; he sighs and leans back. _

"_Forgive me, Your Highness, I did not intend to-"_

"_Is my father aware that you've brought your heresy into his palace?" I interrupt, trying to sound confident._

_But Sena seems unfazed by my attempt at intimidation._

"_Your father is the one who told me to record it," he says easily. "It was for that purpose that he brought me here."_

_I'm shocked- I knew my father loved stories, but why on earth would he seek out those that are false?_

_I can't think of a proper response, and Sena continues, "After all, they are only harmless stories, no threat to your great father."_

"_I know that," I exclaim, showing more frustration than I intended. "Only..." I stare at my hand on Arcanine's back, trying to find the proper way to say what I want, then look back at Sena. "It is not for me to question my father. But I'm afraid I do not understand his interest in these... stories. They seem beneath him, to me."_

_Sena takes a breath, starts to say something, then pauses, pursing his lips. _

"_I'm not sure I would call it 'interest' on His Majesty's part," he says finally._

"_What do you mean?"_

_He waves his hand dismissively and says, "It doesn't really matter." He moves back into the lantern light. "The important thing is that you develop an understanding and appreciation for what is to be your new homeland."_

_I smirk and can't help laughing a little to myself. _

"_Is something amusing, Your Highness?" Sena asks._

_He knows very well what it is; this is just an attempt to subtly admonish my rudeness. I decide to use to opportunity to taunt him further. _

"_It's just that, it seems very unlikely that I'll ever be able to 'appreciate' Shul," I say, still smiling, as if I don't intend to insult him. "Even you, Sena, must admit how barren it is compared to Urutu."_

_Sena grimaces, but nods._

"_It's true that Shul is mostly desert," he says. "But it is my hope that you can find something to admire in its history and culture."_

_I smile blankly at him but say nothing._

"_Don't you think, Your Highness..." Sena starts, his eyes darting between me and the tablet. "That is to say, would it not be better, for you..." He pauses and frowns, casts his eyes downward. Then he looks at me again and says, "I only want to help you be happy in your new home."_

_My fake smile instantly falls away. Anger swells within me. As if a few silly stories are enough to make me happy! How dare he treat my pain so lightly! And how dare he pretend that he has any care for my happiness! Surely, he knows that I know that his intentions, whatever they are, are completely selfish. It is an insult to my intelligence for him to pretend otherwise._

_Sena bows his head and says, "Forgive me, Your Highness, I did not intend to upset you."_

"_You have not upset me," I say coldly, arms crossed. I try to remain aloof, try to give no sign that I'm holding in tears. I've gotten very good at that. "I sincerely doubt that these stories will be of any help to me, but you seem to believe they will. There's no harm in it. Very well, then. Shall we begin?"_

_Sena stares at me for a second, lips pursed, uncertainty on his face. Half of me hopes that he knows he has wounded me and feels guilty for it (if he is even capable of guilt). The other half of me doesn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he has hurt me. He is no one; why should I care what he thinks?_

"_Yes, of course," Sena finally says, turning his attention to the tablet between us. "I thought we would start at the beginning."_

"_That's reasonable," I say, coldly._

_He grimaces, but all he replies is, "This is the story of the creation of the world." He looks down at the tablet and begins, "Before there was heaven, before there was earth, __before there was field or river or mountain, __there was the great Pokemon of salt waters, __Tiamu__, and the great Pokemon of fresh waters, __Apsatta. In those days, Tiamu was of the same body as Apsatta, Apsatta was of the same body as Tiamu. Together, these two, Tiamu of the salt water and Apsatta of the fresh water, created Lehurat, the Pokemon who __shines__, and Lehursu, the Pokemon who __sees__. __Together, these two, Tiamu of the salt water and Apsatta of the fresh water__, created Mudd__at__, the Pokemon who __cries out__, and __Mudasshu__, the Pokemon who __hears__. And together these __four__, __Luhurat who shines and__-"_

"_How long does this go on?" I ask, __tapping my fingers on the table. "I know all of this, get to the interesting part."_

_Sena clenches his jaw and doesn't look at me. But he says, "Yes, of course," __H__e __continues, "Many ages passed. Tiamu of the salt water and Apsatta of the fresh water were still, still as they had always been. But the Pokemon they had created, Lehurat who shines and Lehursu who sees, Muddat who cries out and Mudasshu who hears-"  
_

_I sigh loudly, and Sena grimaces, but skips ahead. __I notice that he's not really reading from the tablet anymore._

"_These Pokemon were not still, these Pokemon were full of motion, as had never been before. Full of motion, these Pokemon disturbed the two Pokemon who created them, the two who lay still, Tiamu of the salt water and Apsatta of the fresh water. Thus, Tiamu of the salt water and Apsatta of the fresh water rose __against the Pokemon they had created, against..." he pauses. "Well, I suppose I should skip this part, too..." he trails off._

"_Perhaps you should skip the whole thing," I say. "I already know this story."_

_Sena looks up at me, tilts his head slightly, and says, "Well, then. Perhaps you would be please to finish it, Your Highness?"_

_His tone doesn't sound mocking, but I can't guess what he's thinking._

_I sit up straight and say, "And what would be the point of that?" I ask. "The rest of the story is contained in your tablet, is it not?"_

"_It is," Sena says with a nod. "I inscribed it myself. But I'm interested to hear how your people tell it."_

_I smile, fold my hands in my lap, and say, "Very well."_

_If he thinks I don't really know the story, if he intends to make a fool of me, he's going to be disappointed. I've heard it recited countless times in court and know every word by heart. _

_I close my eyes and begin, "And Tiamu and Apsatta were roused by the Pokemon they had created. Thus, Tiamu said to Apsatta, let us rise up and silence those who disturb us, that we may rest once again. Apsatta __replied to __Tiamu__, let it be so__. Tiamu __g__nashed __its__poison __fangs, and Apsatta roared. __Tiamu attacked with sharp claws, and Apsatta crushed with strong grip." _

_I'm falling into a good rhythm._

"_Now, these two were stronger than any that they had created. But Tiamu and Apsatta were but two, and those that they had created were __four.__ For many days and many nights, for many ages, the battle raged, but neither side prevailed. But those that Tiamu and Apsatta had created were __wiser__ than the __two __who had created them. Lehurat shone its light on Tiamu and Apsatta, and Lehursa foresaw their attack. Muddat cried out the warning, and Muddasshu heard the battle plan__. __Now, of these __wise__ ones, Muddasshu was the __wisest__. He counciled with his kin, saying,__l__et us create a warrior, let us create one to stand __against Tiamu and Apsatta, who created us yet now oppress us. And his kin replied to Mudasshu saying, __how shall we do such a thing, we who have no powers of creation?"_

_I pause and open my eyes to see Sena's reaction, expecting him to be annoyed that I know the story so well. But instead, he's leaning toward me, studying me intently. It's unnerving; I don't know how to react._

"_Why did you stop?" He asks._

"_I...__I just lost my place, that's all," I say. "You're making me nervous, staring at me like that."_

"_Oh, please excuse me, Your Highness," Sena says, pulling back and closing his eyes. "Is that better?"_

"_Yes," I say. "Now, where was I? Oh, yes."_

_I continue, "__To them Muddasshu replied saying... __saying... __we shall __trick__ Tiamu and Apsatta... and by our trickery... they shall create the one who will be their own downfall. Thus the four went to Tiamu and Apsatta, and said... let us put an end to this fighting, let us call a truce. And Tiamu and Apsatta replied saying, let it be so." _

_I pause, stare at nothing, trying to remember the next line._

"_Muddasshu then spoke, saying, it is our will that you, Tiamu and Apsatta, create a new Pokemon." _

_T__hat was too rushed; I must force myself to slow down._

"_My kin and I will bless this Pokemon," __I say, ennunciating every word, "__let this be a symbol of our truce."_

_Now, it's too slow._

"_And Tiamu and Apsatta replied saying, let it be so."_

_I have to pause again, cursing Sena for making me so self-conscious. Is this what he wanted? Well, if that's the case, I can't let him win. I close my eyes again, try to forget that Sena is even here. _

"_Thus the two created a great egg. Lehursa gave the gift of sight to the one who laid inside, and Lehurat gave the gift of light. Muddasshu gave the gift of hearing, and Muddat gave the gift of sound. Muddat whispered into the ear of the one who laid inside, __saying, __Tiamu and Apsatta, the two who created you, the two before you, are your enemy. Rise up, and attack them."_

_G__ood, I seem to have found my rhythm again. I'm near the end of the story now, all that's left is to finish it._

"_Then Arceus, the creator, emerged from the egg. Arceus saw Tiamu and Apsatta and knew them to be his enemy, and __cried out against them__. __Stretching out his thousand arms__, __straining with all his might,__he __pushed Tiamu __down __and lifted Apsatta __up__, so that the two were separated. __And Tiamu became the sea and Apsatta became the sky."_

_I __stop there, because the next line starts a new part of the __story__._

"_Well done," Sena says. He seems to be fighting a smile, which is unnerving. "You're very sharp, Your Highness."_

_That's not the response I was expecting. My face goes hot, but I try to remain composed._

"_There's nothing to it," I say with a wave. "Anyone would remember that story, having heard it so many times."_

"_I don't think so," Sena asks._

"_Are you contradicting me, Sena?" I warn._

"_No, forgive me," he says, pulling back and holding his hands up. "I only meant, I don't think most people would be able to recite it, line for line, the way you just did."_

"_I am a princess of Urutu," I say in a measured tone. "It's my duty to know the legends of my father's country."_

_Sena nods and says, "Yes, of course." He pauses, leans back and tilts his head, then says, "What do you think of that legend?"_

"_What do you mean, what do I think?" I ask._

"_Well, how does it make you feel? Do you like it?"_

_What a strange question! I don't know what he's getting at._

"_Do I like it?" I ask. "What does that matter?"_

_Sena shrugs and says, "I'm simply curious."_

"_Do _you_ like it, Sena?" I ask, trying to confound him._

"_Yes, I do," he says easily. "It's especially interesting to me, how it's different from the story we tell in Shul."_

_I'm silent for a moment, but then my curiosity gets the better of me, and I ask, "How is it different?"_

"_Well, the events of the story are the same in both version," Sena answers, "but..." He purses his lips and looks up, thinking. He sits up, leans toward me and says, "Well, for example, in the Urutu version, the younger Pokemon gods 'are 'wise.' But in the Shul version, the word is our old word for 'cunning.'"_

"_That's no difference," I say. "They mean the same thing."_

_Sena doesn't answer, but purses his lips._

"_They do," I say, frustrated that he disagrees with me. "How could you possibly think that such a small difference in wording means anything?"_

"_Well..." Sena begins. "But I don't want to contradict you, Your Highness."_

_Now he's mocking me._

"_Just say it, Sena," I say, "you are testing my patience."_

_He nods and says, "All right. Since you asked, Your Highness, I think that 'wise' sounds better than 'cunning.'"_

_I laugh and say, "So you admit that our version is superior to yours?"_

"_That's not what I mean," Sena says, shaking his head. "What I mean is..." He looks to the ceiling for a moment, then back at me. "The word 'cunning' has... negative... implications that 'wise' does not."_

"_No, it doesn't," I say. "Cunning means 'smart,' 'clever,' 'quick-thinking.' Those are good things."_

"_Yes, they are," he says with a nod. "But is that all it means?"_

"_Well." I think about it for a moment. "I suppose someone 'cunning' knows what to do and say to get what he wants from others." I concede._

"_Right!" Sena exclaims, nodding and his eyes wide and glittering. "There's an implication of deceptiveness there."_

_Sena must think himself clever indeed if he is bold enough to discuss deception with me. I don't want to give him any excuse for whatever plans he has for me, but the desire to win the argument is too strong, and I reply, "Sometimes deception is necessary. It was for the younger Pokemon gods."_

"_That's true," he says, nodding. "But would you trust someone 'cunning?'"_

"_It depends," I say, staring at him pointedly._

_I want him to know that I'll not be taken in by him._

_But Sena only smiles, briefly, and says, "But you understand what I'm saying. If someone is 'cunning,' his trustworthiness is in question, at least. Not so with someone 'wise.'"_

_I frown, unhappy at losing the point. But I still have more to say._

"_All right, I see your point," I say, crossing my arms and leaning back, but still holding my head high. "But what does the word matter? What happened, happened; the description doesn't change it."_

"_No, of course it doesn't." Sena says. "But it tells you something about how the people telling the story think. For the people of Urutu, it was a good thing when the younger Pokemon gods tricked Tiamu and Apsatta. But for the people of Shul it was..." He spreads his hands open and stares at them for a moment. "Perhaps a necessary evil."_

"_What are you saying, Sena?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at him. "That the people of Shul are more righteous than we in Urutu?_

"_No, not at all!" Sena says, holding his hands up and pulling back. "I admire those able to prevail with nothing but their wits." His eyes sparkle in the lantern light._

_Suddenly I feel very unsettled. I feel Arcanine's muscles tense under my hand. Is he talking about himself? Would Sena really be foolish enough to betray his true motives like that? No. He's many things, but he's no fool. But then, he must know that I know this. Perhaps he means to mislead me, perhaps he thinks I won't suspect him if he acts as if he has nothing to hide. Or perhaps he thinks that he's in complete control, that what I suspect or don't suspect don't matter._

"_Is something the matter, Your Highness?" Sena asks, a practiced look of concern on his face._

"_No," I snap. "Do you think I look as if something is the matter?"_

_He shakes his head and says, "Not at all. You were just so quiet for a moment that I thought..."_

"_You thought what?" I say, my face turning hot._

_Sena shakes his head and says, "Nothing. I was merely concerned."_

_Surely, he doesn't expect me to believe that. Yet he said it with such confidence. I can't tell what Sena's thinking, and it drives me mad. Meanwhile, I keep giving myself away, showing my frustration, turning red... It's humiliating. He's making me feel like a petulant child. And of course, that only makes it harder to conceal my emotions. Time to withdraw, I think, at least for now._

"_I grow tired now," I say, standing. Arcanine rises with me. "I want to retire to my chamber."_

_Sena stands, too, in deference, and says, "Very well, Your Highness. Shall we continue tomorrow?"_

_I nod slowly and say, "We shall." _

_Then I turn and walk away, slowly, Arcanine close at my side. I can feel Sena's eyes on my back, compelling me to stop and look back at him, but I refuse. Next time I won't allow him to affect me like this; next time I'll be prepared. Today marks the last time Sena will ever best me- I swear it._


	8. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I stared out the train window as my hometown streaked by. From up on the hill, I could see the rooves of all the places I knew so well- the gym where my dad trained when he was home, the Pokemart where we'd stop for snacks on the way home... our house. I kept my eyes on it for as long as it was in view, even though imagining how dark and empty it must be made a lump form in my throat.

"Satsumi, did you hear what I said?" Fuuka asked.

I turned from the window to her and said, "Huh? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What did you say?"

Fuuka frowned.

"Are you ok?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "You seem kinda out of it."

Kazeo leaned forward to look past her at me.

"I'm fine! Just tired!" I answered with a smile.

Fuuka smiled back and said, "Yeah, you had trouble sleeping last night, didn't you?"

"I guess so," I said, glancing to the floor, then back at her. "I hope I didn't keep you awake."

She shook her head rapidly and said, "Don't worry about us! We're the ones who should be worrying about you! Right, Kazeo?"

Kazeo nodded and said, "We understand. You had a nightmare about your dad, right?"

"Yeah..." I said, turning my face to the floor.

I wasn't exactly sure why I'd lied about that. Fuuka had woken me up in the middle of the night, saying I was tossing and turning and talking in my sleep. I really _had_ had a nightmare, but... _Was_ it a nightmare? It hadn't been a scary dream. Upsetting, but not scary. There was something about it, though, that made me feel so strange. It had felt so real. Even now, I could see the huge stone library in my mind, as clearly as if I'd actually been there- the gray light coming from the window slits near the ceiling, the rough stone walls, the beautifully patterned rugs that lined the floors. I could even feel the chill in the air, and Arcanine's warmth near me. And now I could remember the first dream, too, the one I'd had on the night before I left on my journey. I'd been in a huge garden, full of brightly colored flowers: huge red ones hanging from vines, clusters of tiny blue ones on long stalks, purple ones growing on shrubs. There were trees full of different kinds of fruit, ponds and fountains... And there had been Pokemon I'd never heard of before— butterfly Pokemon with bright blue, heart-shaped wings fluttering from flower to flower. Yellow lizard Pokemon with tails covered in spikes sunning themselves on rocks. Dark purple bird Pokemon with sparkling, crystalline tail feathers that fanned out behind them and turned the sunlight into rainbows (that had been the most beautiful one of all). I even knew their names: Bellafly, Magana, Peacorra. The sun had been so warm, and the air sweet with the faint scent of flowers... It was the most beautiful, wonderful place I'd ever been.

But I'd been so unhappy in the dream. Everything was wrong- my only friend had abandoned me, I was being forced to leave home and marry someone I'd never met... And there was that strange Ziggurat and the force I felt from it. It had stuck with me all day.

But none of it was real. I was stressed out, and I'd been thinking about Nirakar so much... No wonder I was having strange dreams. So why did it still bother me so much? Maybe that was why I'd lied to Fuuka- I couldn't explain to her why the dreams had upset me.

"Satsumi?" Fuuka said.

I looked up from the floor to her, realizing she'd been speaking to me.

"Oh, sorry, Fuuka, I didn't mean to space out again!"

"It's fine!" She replied, smiling and holding up her hands. "I was just going over the plan for the next few days. Here, I'll show you on the map."

She pulled out her Pokedex and tapped the screen a few times, then handed it to me and leaned in close. I stared down at the green and blue map on the screen while she drew a red path with her finger.

"Ok, so, the airport is in Saffron, right? We can stay in the Pokecenter there overnight, and fly to Nirakar the next day. Then Shada- she's a member of my fansite- said we could stay with her family while we're in Eternia City." She looked at me. "What do you think?"

"Yeah, that's good," I said, nodding.

It was a little too good; I felt a little wrong going back to city life so soon after starting on my journey; I'd really only had one full day on the road before getting on the train. Still, my body felt tired and achy, and I couldn't wait to sleep in a real bed. We needed to get to Nirakar as soon as possible, and this was the fastest way. So there was nothing to feel guilty about, right?

We were quiet for most of the train ride, with Fuuka doing stuff on her Pokedex and Kazeo reading a book. I kept nodding off, then catching myself, afraid of having another dream.

After a minute, Fuuka shook my shoulder and said, "Satsumi, wake up, this is our stop."

"Huh?" I said, looking first at her and then around the train. The other passengers were already standing up and heading for the open doors. "Already?" I asked.

She smiled.

"It's been two hours, you slept almost the whole way," she said, standing and offering her hand.

"Did you get a good rest?" Kazeo asked.

I nodded, took Fuuka's hand, and let her pull me to my feet. I still felt tired, and my neck hurt from how I'd been sleeping, but at least I hadn't had any more strange dreams. I hadn't dreamed of anything at all.

Fuuka and Kazeo led the way through the crowd and out of the station. Saffron City looked pretty much the same as I remembered it- the center of the city was gray, nothing but high rises jammed against taller high rises. There were people everywhere, hurrying down the streets, at work in the buildings above us, even below our feet, riding the trains we'd just left. The last time I'd been here...

The last time I'd been here was three years ago, when I was nine. That was right after my dad had won his third Pokemon League Championship, so he'd been away from home a lot, making TV appearances, competing in exhibition battles... My mom and I had gone to Saffron City to cheer my dad on in one of those matches; it wasn't an important one, so he'd had free time to spend with us, and I'd wanted to see the city.

I remembered how small I'd felt looking up at those huge skyscrapers; they were all I could really see, except for the people all around me rushing here and there. There'd been so much noise- cars, people talking and yelling... I'd stuck close to my mom. But I'd only been a little nervous; mostly, I was just excited to be there.

We'd met my dad (and Pikachu, of course) at his hotel and set out to explore the street and shops. He kept getting stopped by fans who wanted autographs, or just to talk to him. He told the grown-up fans that he was with his family and didn't have time, but when it was a kid... He'd try to keep walking at first, but then they'd say something like, "Please, Mr. Satoshi- you're my hero, I want to be just like you when I grow up!" And my dad would glance between them and me, then say, "Sorry, Satsumi, this'll just take a minute," before turning away, crouching down to their level, and talking to them. Pikachu went with him, but kept looking back at me and my mom like he wasn't sure what to do. My dad could never say no to a kid who looked up to him. _Except me,_ I thought bitterly. I knew that wasn't fair- just because my dad cared about his fans didn't mean he loved me any less. But sometimes I wished he wasn't famous. The third time he stopped to talk to someone, tears started to form in my eyes. My mom must've noticed, because she put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed. When I looked up at her, she was glaring at my dad with a frustrated look on her face.

"Satoshi, this is supposed to be Satsumi's day," she said when the kid was gone.

"I know," my dad said with an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, Satsumi." He put his hand on my shoulder and got down on one knee to face me. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

I looked away, trying to hide the tears in my eyes.

"Come on, isn't there anywhere you want to go?" he said.

"Yeah," I said, still not looking at him, "but no matter where we go..."

"Yeah, I know," my dad said, then, "Hey, what if I got a disguise? Then no one will bother us!"

"Well, ok," I said, though I wasn't so sure it would work.

The three of us stopped at a store, and my dad bought sunglasses and a new cap. It was a terrible disguise, but he tried so hard to not to stand out, walking stiff with his hands shoved in his pocket, barely talking, that he stood out even more than before.

The next time someone called out to him, he looked away from them, froze, and said, "Y-you've got the wrong guy, I'm not Satoshi!"

"Huh?" the boy said, confused. "Yes, you are. Is this a joke or something?"

My dad looked so nervous that my mom and I couldn't stop giggling.

"It's ok," I said finally, through my laughter, "one more is ok."

"It's too bad Team Rocket isn't here," my mom said when the boy left, still looking confused, "they were always good at this kind of thing!"

After that, we headed out of the busy part of the city, away from the crowds, where people wouldn't bother us so much. He showed me the Saffron City gym, where he'd battled the gym leader, Natsume, so many years before. I even got to meet her- a tall, beautiful, green-haired woman with a quiet smile and a pretty laugh.

While my dad reunited with Haunter (the Ghost Pokemon he'd given her years ago), she crouched down in front of me and asked, "Did you know your father's the one who taught me how to laugh?"

"Yes," I said, smiling big. "He said that once you started laughing, it was like you couldn't stop!"

My dad had told me that, when he met Natsume, she was a cold, cruel person who used her psychic powers to turn trainers into dolls. But when they battled, Haunter had made Sabrina's Kadabra (who was standing beside her now) laugh so hard that he rolled on the floor. Since Natsume and Kadabra were psychically linked, she'd also started laughing uncontrollably, and it seemed to break the dark spell on her.

"That's true!" Sabrina said. "In fact, I still haven't stopped!" She paused, then added, "You have his smile, you know."

I smiled even bigger.

"Thank you," I said, blushing.

That was one of my happiest memories. But now... the city looked pretty much how I remembered it, but it _felt_ completely different. Everything was gray; the high rises seemed to lean in on me, and the sunlight reflecting off their windows blinded me. The buildings and the crowd made me feel so small that it was almost like I didn't exist. None of it seemed to bother Fuuka and Kazeo, though; they walked ahead of me, talking cheerfully.

"I'm starving," Fuuka was saying, "let's find a restaurant."

I was falling behind, but the people in front of me were walking too slow for me to run and catch up.

"Excuse me," I muttered, trying to get around them.

But they didn't seem to hear me. People surrounded me on every side, and I couldn't break away.

"Fuuka!" I called, but not loudly enough to be heard over the noise of the crowd.

All I could do then was to keep moving forward, until the sidewalk ended at a busy intersection and the crowd stopped to wait at the crosswalk. I turned this way and that, squeezing past people, until I came to the street. I stood on my toes, jumped up and down, trying to see over people's heads, looked in every direction.

But no matter where I looked, I couldn't see Fuuka or Kazeo. I didn't know where they were going. My Pokedex was out of batteries, so I couldn't even contact them. I was completely lost. _How could I have let this happen?_ I wondered, on the brink of tears. If only I'd paid more attention, if only I'd remembered to turn of my Pokedex when I wasn't using it... I'd been so stupid.

The walk sign came on, and the crowd started to move past me, some almost bumping into me. I looked around me, not sure which way I should go. Finally, someone said to me, "Move, kid, you're in the way," so I started blindly walking with the crowd. It was as good as any other direction. Pushing down panic, I tried to think of a plan. My parents had gotten separated from each other plenty of times, and they'd always found each other. That was right- the city was huge, but Fuuka and Kazeo would never leave without me. _Just try to think,_ I told myself, _where would they look for me?_ The first place that entered my mind was the Pokemon Center. Yes, that was perfect- Fuuka and Kazeo were bound to go there sooner or later; I could even charge my Pokedex there and call them.

I knew from my last visit to Saffon that the Pokemon center was just outside the urban center of the city, a straight line from the train station; I was already on the right path. It was a long walk- my feet were hurting, and I was so tired- but finally I turned a corner and its red-domed roof came into view. Just the sight of it was such a relief- soon I could take a hot shower and a nice, long rest. _Just a little farther, Satsumi, _I told myself, _you can do it._

* * *

Soon enough, I was walking up the path to the Pokecenter. The glass doors slid open with a _whir_ as I approached, and I stepped into the wonderfully air-conditioned lobby. Nurse Joy, who was sitting behind the front desk, working on the computer there, stood up and said, "Hi, welcome to Saffon City Pokemon Center!" with a slight bow.

She looked exactly the same as the Nurse Joy back in Viridian City- blue eyes, pale pink hair styled in heart shaped buns on top of her head. She even wore the same frilly pink dress. But I'd already known that all Nurse Joys were identical, from my parents' stories, so I wasn't surprised or confused like they'd been.

"Um, hi," I said.

I walked up to the desk and took off my backpack, then put it on the counter and took out Eevee's Pokeball.

"Can you take care of my Eevee for me?" I said, handing it to her. "Please."

"Of course!" Nurse Joy said, smiling brightly as she took it from me. She handed it to Chancey, who took it between her plump pink paws and set it on a cart behind the desk full of other Pokeballs. I smiled and thanked Chancey, and she happily responded with, "Chancey!"

I asked Nurse Joy where I could find an electrical outlet, and she pointed me to one under a bench against the wall to our left. I thanked her, then crossed the room to the outlet, set my backpack down on the bench, took out my Pokedex and charger, crouched down, and plugged it in. Then I sat on the bench and turned the Pokedex on. After it loaded, 15 notifications popped up, all of them calls and messages from Fuuka and Kazeo.

The first message said, _hey, where r u?_ and the last one said, s_atsumi, where r u?! we lookd all over! are you ok?! reply asap!_

I was hit with a wave of guilt for making them worry. But everything was ok now, or it would be as soon as I called them.

But before I could even press the call button, I heard the Pokecenter's doors whir open, and looked up to see who it was. In walked the most beautiful person I'd ever seen in my life. I even gasped at her appearance; suddenly I understood what people meant when they said someone was "breathtaking."

She was tall, curvy, and dark skinned, with sharp brown eyes and wavy, dark red hair that fell to her lower back. She was dressed completely in purple; on the chest of her tight-fitting tunic was a white letter "I" with a golden, three-pointed crown on top. It reminded me of Retsu's Team Rocket uniform, which made me nervous.

But it wasn't just her uniform. The way she just stood there, hand on her hip, saying nothing, just staring at Nurse Joy... Chancey, who had been pushing the cart of Pokeballs to a door on the other side of the room, stopped in her tracks and watched with a concerned look on her face. Nurse Joy seemed to sense the tension in the room, too, because she looked blankly at the woman for a second before remembering to smile and say, "Welcome to Saffron City's Pokemon Center!" When the woman didn't respond, she added, "How can I help you?"

The woman still didn't answer, but smiled slightly and walked up to the desk unhurriedly. Then she said, "You can help me by giving me your Pokemon."

Her voice was a little deep for a woman, and husky, with a slight accent.

"Wh-what?" Nurse Joy said, her smile fading.

"I said, you can help me by giving me your Pokemon," the woman replied slowly. Then she added, "The ones on the cart there will do," motioning toward Chancey with her shoulder

Chancey let go of the cart's handle and spread her arms wide in front of it, to protect it. Nurse Joy stood tall and rigid with her arms by her sides and said, almost too loudly, "That is one thing I cannot do. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

The woman laughed to herself and said, "Well, you can't say I didn't try to do things the easy way."

Then she took a small, black, rectangluar item out of her pocket; it had an antenna, so I could tell it was some kind of electronic. She tucked her hair behind her ear, and I could see that she was wearing a glittering white earring in the shape of a teardrop. She closed her eyes, pointed the device at Chancey, and pressed a button on it. My whole body tensed, and I pressed myself against the wall... but nothing happened. At least, nothing seemed to. Then Chancey's eyes drooped, and her arms lowered.

Then the woman, eyes still closed, said, "Chancey, bring me the Pokemon."

"Chancey," Chancey said blankly.

She turned around, took the cart handle, and wheeled the cart around toward the woman.

"Chancey?" Nurse Joy said, clutching her hand to her chest. "What are you doing?"

But Chancey didn't seem to hear her, just kept rolling the cart toward the mysterious woman.

Nurse Joy put her hands on the counter and pushed herself up and over it. She rushed over to Chancey and took the cart handle in her own hands, planted her feet and struggled to gain control. The cart swayed and tipped as the two fought, the wheels lifting up and clacking back down. Finally, Chancey let go and shoved Nurse Joy, who fell to the ground, taking the cart with her. It hit the ground with a loud clatter, and the Pokeballs rolled away in ever direction.

The woman finally opened her eyes. She frowned and muttered something to herself, but put her device away. Then she pulled a bag from her other pocket, unfolded it, and got on her hands and knees to collect for the Pokeballs nearest her, putting them in the bag as she went. Nurse Joy started to reach for one near her, but Chancey pinned her against the desk.

"Chancey, stop, what's gotten into you?" she cried.

That was when I finally unfroze. Leaving my Pokedex on the bench, I jumped to my feet and started toward the center of the room on shaky legs- I had to find Eevee. But I stopped in my tracks when I realized that I had no idea which Pokeball was mine. I'd have to grab as many as I could before the woman, and just hope that one of them was Eevee.

When I thought about it later, I realized it would've made more sense to start with the Pokeballs closest to me. But for some reason, my eyes settled on one that had bounced off the desk and was now rolling toward the woman. I ran for it, bending slightly forward, hand already outstretched. She reached for the Pokeball. I practically lunged for it, snapping it up just before she could, then fell, rolling with my own momentum. Everything hurt where I'd hit the ground (hard), but there was no time to stay still. I pushed myself onto my knees.

"Run!" I heard Nurse Joy call, "Hurry!"

But before I could even stand, two lavender boots stepped into view on the floor right in front of me. Without raising my head, I heard the woman say, "Give it to me."

I froze for a second, too afraid to look up at her. Then, I crawled backward, the woman following, until I ran into the wall behind me. She stood over me with the bag in one hand, holding the other out to me.

"Give it to me," she said, more slowly this time.

I only clutched the Pokeball tighter. For a moment, I thought about sending out Eevee (or whatever Pokemon was inside the ball). But what chance would we have against the intimidating woman? Especially when she had that strange device. I still didn't know what she'd done to Chancey, but I didn't want her doing it to another Pokemon, especially not Eevee. The woman shifted her weight to her left.

"Don't make this difficult," she said, firmly, but not exactly threatening me. It was like she was telling me to clean up my room or brush my teeth, instead of trying to steal my Pokemon. "You can't get away; fighting will only make things more difficult for both of us."

"Leave her alone!" Nurse Joy demanded. "Can't you see you're scaring her?"

But the woman completely ignored her.

I wrapped my body around the Pokeball and closed my eyes tight, praying for someone, anyone, to help me.

That's when I heard the whir of the Pokecenter door again, and heavy footsteps running in.

"Hey, back off!" the newcomer said, slightly out of breath. I knew that voice. "Her Pokemon are mine!"

The woman spun around to face him; I leaned to my left to look around her, and was actually relieved to see Retsu, standing there pointing at her. While she was distracted, I got to my feet and ran for the door.

"Hey!" the woman said, "get back here!"

I felt a swoosh of air as she grabbed for me, but she was too slow; I was almost at the door. But just as it opened, I stopped. What if the Pokeball I had in my hand wasn't Eevee? I couldn't risk leaving him behind. I forced myself to turn around. For a second, both the woman and Retsu just stood there, watching me. I watched them back. I stared at the woman's white earrings, sparkling in the sun. I noticed binoculars hanging from Retsu's neck and realized it wasn't just a coincidence that he was here. No one moved. I was sure the woman would attack me if I did. And she was afraid I'd run, I thought. It was Retsu who finally broke the stillness, turning back to the woman and going for Elekid's Pokeball at his waist.

"Wait!" I exclaimed, but it was too late.

"Go, Elekid!" Retsu called as he threw the Pokeball. "Get her!"

Elekid appeared in a flash of light, already spinning his arms.

"Elekid!" he said.

The woman looked down at Elekid with a slight smile. She set her bag on the floor beside her and took out the strange device again. She closed her eyes and pointed it at Elekid.

"Hey, what are you-" Retsu started

"Look out!" I called to him. "She uses that thing to control Pokemon!"

He turned to me with a confused look on his face and said, "What?"

But before I could answer, Elekid called out his name and hit Retsu with a Thundershock. Retsu convulsed and cried out in pain, falling to his knees when it was over.

"Elekid!" he said breathlessly, "What are you doing?! It's me!"

But Elekid just stared back at him blankly and spun his arms, preparing for another attack.

"Hey!" Retsu yelled at the woman. "What did you do to Elekid?!"

I looked at the Pokeball in my hand. If I tried to help, I might get myself in big trouble. But if I didn't, I might lose Eevee. There was no time to decide; if I was going to do something, it had to be right then. So before I could lose my nerve, I threw the Pokeball and forced myself to call loudly, "Go! Get that device away from her!"

As the light released from the ball took on Eevee's shape, I had a strange feeling, like I'd known it would be him all along- it just felt right, somehow. As he ran forward, I felt the flow of his movement, could almost sense what he was going to do next. It was so weird... But there was no time to think about that now.

Eevee bounded toward the woman, who stumbled back until she was pressed against the wall, holding the device out of Eevee's reach as he leapt at it over and over. Then in one quick movement, giving her no time to react, Retsu sprung up, ran at the woman, and swatted the device out of her hand. It hit the floor with a loud clatter, a piece of the case breaking off and spinning across the floor. The woman moved to get on her hands and knees and reach for the device, but Eevee leaped in her face, making her jerk back, and Retsu turned and stomped on it.

The woman let out an angry grunt and hit the wall behind her with her fist. Then she closed her eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and looked back up, calm this time.

"Well, that didn't go as planned" she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "But at least now I know it works."

_What does it matter if it works?_ I wondered. _It's broken now._

Did she really think the device could be fixed? It didn't look like it, all cracked and bent, with wires sticking out where one of the buttons had been. Why wasn't she more upset about it? Even if I didn't know what the device was or how it worked, I could tell it was really powerful.

"What was that thing?!" Retsu demanded, pointing down at it.

"That does not concern you," the woman said calmly.

"The heck it doesn't concern me!" he yelled. "What did you do to Elekid?!"

"Elekid will be fine, see?" she said, pointing at Elekid.

He was sitting on the floor, looking around confused.

"Elekid?" He said when he saw Retsu.

Retsu rushed over to him, scooped him up, and held him to his chest defensively, glaring at the woman angrily. Elekid clung to his shirt.

"Chancey, are you ok?" I heard Nurse Joy say.

I looked to them and saw Chancey nod at her with the same dazed expression as Elekid.

"Chancey," she said.

Nurse Joy put her arm around her cautiously, and looked back at the woman in fear.

The woman crossed her arms and said, "I would never hurt a Pokemon. They will come back to themselves shortly."

"You better hope they do," Retsu spat.

The woman's only response was a small laugh. She started toward the broken device, but Eevee growled and hunched down to jump at her again. I didn't try to stop him; even broken, if the woman still wanted the device, it must be dangerous.

"Nuisance," she mutttered.

She took a Pokeball from the white belt that followed the line of her hips and made it bigger.

Here," the woman said, "I have a better opponent for you."

Then she threw the ball, calling, "Go!"

Light flashed and took shape, and I gasped. There, standing right in front of me in the suddenly dim Pokemon center, was a dark purple bird Pokemon with sparkling, crystalline tail feathers that fanned out behind it and turned the sunlight streaming from the window into rainbows.

"Pea!" the Pokemon trilled, fluttering its wings.

I felt cold and the edges of my vision started to go dark, in spite of the brilliance of the Pokemon's feathers.

_No way,_ I thought, _There's just no way!_

Eevee lowered his head and flattened his ears at the new threat.

"Eevee," he growled.

"I see you've never seen a Peacorra before," the woman said, smiling smugly at me. I realized my mouth was hanging open, and closed it. "Beautiful, isn't he?" She paused, and her smile vanished. "Beautiful, but dangerous."

"Peacorra!" she called.

He turned his head and looked at his trainer, who was pointed to Eevee.

"Use Gust, knock this runt out of the way!"

Peacorra turned his back to Eevee and started beating his tail feathers rapidly up and down, causing a gust of air that knocked Eevee off his feet and sent him rolling along the wall.

"Eevee!" I cried.

He came to a stop near the desk and rolled onto his stomach, eyes spinning.

"Eevee, are you ok?" I called. "You have to get up!"

Eevee got one back foot under him, then a front foot, until he was standing... and swaying back and forth dizzily.

"Vee..." he said weakly, trying to keep his balance.

"Good job, Peacorra," the woman said to her Pokemon. "That was no trouble at all for you, was it?"

Peacorra held his head high and trilled with pride.

The woman smiled at him. She started toward the device, which had spun across the floor in Peacorra's gust, and Retsu moved to stop her. Nurse Joy started to stand, too. The woman stopped walking, but didn't stop smiling for a second.

"Peacorra, use flash," she said calmly.

Peacorra whipped around to face Retsu and Nurse Joy and adjusted his tail feathers so that they shone brilliant, glittering gold in the sunlight; it hurt my eyes to look at, even though Peacorra wasn't aiming at me. Retsu stopped in his tracks, wincing and turning his face away, with Elekid pressing his face against his chest. Nurse Joy sank back to the floor and covered her own eyes with one hand and Chancey's with the other. Retsu stepped back and forth, trying to find a way out of Peacorra's light, but Peacorra easily kept up with his movements. The woman stood just smiling at the scene for a second, then started toward the device again.

I couldn't panic, I had to think of something, I had to _do_ something. But what? I was too far away to reach the device in time. I looked to Eevee and saw that he'd recovered; he was in between the woman and the device, and was already crouched down, aiming at her again. But if he got in her way, she'd just have Peacorra attack him again. She'd almost reached the device and didn't even need to worry about Retsu anymore. Then it hit me- I knew what I needed to do. But would Eevee listen to me?

"Eevee!" I called.

Eevee's ears perked up, but he didn't take his eyes off the woman.

My whole body tensed as I called, "Eevee, you have to listen to me, this is important!"

I'd tried to sound calm, but there was still desperation in my voice. That was no good; Eevee wouldn't listen if I seemed weak. The closer the woman got to the device, the more panicky I got. And the more frustrated- what I wanted Eevee to do was so easy, but he was being so stubborn. In my mind I was screaming it out, wishing that it could reach him somehow.

The woman stopped a little short of Eevee and called to Peacorra, who looked at her, waiting for instructions. If Eevee didn't do what I wanted right this second, it'd be too late. All I could do was try one more time.

But just when I opened my mouth to call out to him again, he turned his head and looked me in the eye, ears held high. Then he turned around, jumped toward the device, and picked it up in his mouth.

"Hey!" the woman yelled. "Put that down this second!"

She tried to block his path as he tried to run back toward me, stepping left and right to match his movements, but then Eevee ran right under her legs, causing her to trip.

"Ow!" she exclaimed as she fell on her butt.

The woman got back up just as I bent down to take the device from Eevee. I stood. She looked from me to Eevee, who faced her and growled defensively, to Peacorra, who was still using flash, to Retsu and Nurse Joy, who were still blinded by it. She turned one way, then the other, looking around the room for options. She paused, seeming to notice something. Suddenly, the woman hurried toward the bag of Pokeballs lying near the wall.

"No, stop!" I called.

But in another second, she was holding it up in her right hand, staring back at me with her left hand on her hip and a smug grin on her face.

"Oh, you want them?" she said in a taunting voice.

I didn't answer; I knew exactly what she was going to say next.

She pointed at the device in my hand.

"Then give that to me," she said.

I held it close to my chest.

"There is no other way," she said, as if she'd read the question in my mind.

But there _had_ to be. Didn't there?

"Fine, have it your way," the woman said with a shrug. She held up Peacorra's Pokeball and said, "Peacorra, good job, return."

When Peacorra was safely back inside the ball, she put it back on her belt, turned, and walked calmly toward the door.

"Wait!" I called when the doors slid open.

The woman stopped and slowly turned toward me, still smiling.

"Yes?" she said.

"Don't trust her!" Retsu called.

I looked to him and Nurse Joy; they were still blinking a little, but seemed ok.

"She has to!" Nurse Joy exclaimed. "Think about the Pokemon!"

"She's gonna steal a lot more Pokemon if she gets that thing back!" he said. "Take it from a thief!"

"And why should we trust a thief?!"

The woman just stood there, watching, waiting for me to decide.

_What would my dad do? _I wondered. But my dad would never have gotten into a situation like this, would he? When it was really important, he never lost. _But if there was no other way,_ I thought, trying to shake off my doubts and think. Retsu had a point (I thought I could trust him this time, since there was no reason for him to lie). But then I thought of the people who owned the Pokemon; they'd be so heart-broken if they came back for them only to find out they'd been stolen. That's how I'd feel if it was Eevee. The woman might steal other Pokemon if she got the device back... But that hadn't happened yet. Maybe she wouldn't be able to fix it. Maybe she'd get caught before she could even try. Right now, I had to save these Pokemon from being stolen.

"If I give you this..." I said. I swallowed hard. "Do you promise to give back the Pokemon?"

"Of course," she said, tossing her hair. "I always keep my word." She paused. "Just call off your Eevee first."

I nodded slowly, still terrified that I was doing the wrong thing. But I had to make a decision. This was the best I could do. I took Eevee's Pokeball in my shaking hand, expanded it and held it out.

"Eevee, return!" I said.

Just before he disappeared into the ball, he turned to me with a confused look on his face, and I couldn't help feeling guilty.

The woman walked to the middle of the room. She set the bag down, but kept her hand wrapped around the top. I approached slowly, cautiously, forcing myself to put one foot in front of the other, the device still clutched to my chest. When I was close enough, I reached out for the bag with my left hand. Then I hesitated, pulled back a little, in case the woman tried something. I looked up at her and saw her looking back like, _Well, go on. _So I grabbed on tight just under where she was holding it.

"Now, give it to me, and I'll let go," she said.

Slowly, I held out the device, and the woman grabbed it away from me before I even knew what was happening.

"Ow!" I cried.

But the woman let go of the bag like she'd promised. She stared down at me for another second. Then she turned and walked out the door without a word.

I fell to my knees, shaking, my heart pounding. My mind raced- who was that woman? How had I dreamed about Peacorra before I even knew it existed? Had I done the right thing? For a second, I thought I was going to be sick, so I closed my eyes and put my hand over my mouth.

"Are you ok, Sweetie?" Nurse Joy said, putting her hands on my shoulder.

Chancey stood beside her, looking concerned.

I opened my eyes and tried to smile at them.

"Yeah, I just need a minute to-"

I had to stop to swallow.

Retsu walked passed us, then paused, turned around half-way around, and looked down at me. He shifted his weight like he was going to take a step toward me, but then hesitated. For a second, I thought he was going to say something to me.

"What are you still doing here?" Nurse Joy asked. "Get out before I call the police!"

"Fine!" Retsu exclaimed. "I wasn't going to put Elekid through anything else today, anyway!"

And then Retsu was out the door, too.

Nurse Joy picked up the bag of Pokeballs beside me, then went to collect the ones still lying on the floor, telling Chancey to stay with me. Chancey put her paws on my arm and tried to get me to stand, but I stayed where I was. I sat for a minute longer, trying not to think of anything, waiting for the nausea to pass, while Chancey rubbed my back.

Finally, I opened my eyes and started to stand. But as I moved, something on the floor sparkled and caught my eye- a small, white disc; it must've fallen off the device when the woman snatched it away from me, I realized. I'd missed it before because it was the same pure white as the floor tile, but it glittered when I picked it up and turned it over and over in my fingers. It reminded me of the woman's earrings- was it made of the same stuff? And I felt like I'd seen the material before, although I couldn't think of where. The disc felt smooth and cool in my palm, like a pebble from a river. But it was different, too. No pebble had ever made my skin... tingle? No, that wasn't right. The disc seemed to give off a kind of energy I'd never felt before, like a magnet pulling something inside me toward it. It actually felt kind of nice. _Is this part of the device? _I wondered. It seemed like it must be. The thought cheered me up a little- if the woman was missing a piece of the device, she wouldn't be able to fix it, would she? So I really _had_ made the right choice.

Feeling better, I put the disc in my pocket and got up to help Nurse Joy. Chancey did, too, walking over to Nurse Joy, taking the bag from her, and holding it open while Nurse Joy dropped the Pokeballs inside as she gathered them. I was setting the cart upright, when I noticed something small, black, and rectangular a few feet away. That was right, another piece had broken off the device when Retsu had swatted it away from the woman, hadn't it? When the cart was steady, I walked over and picked up the piece. It was a battery cover with the words "Silph Co." printed on the outside. Silph was a huge company that had started in Saffron City. Had they made the device? That couldn't be good. _But it's broken now, anyway,_ I reminded myself. Somehow, the thought didn't make me feel much better.

Suddenly, the doors behind me whirred open again, and I spun around, afraid it was the woman or Retsu again. But instead, I saw Natsume standing there. She hadn't changed much since the last time I saw her. She was wearing a short, high-necked red dress, with her hair braided and pulled over her shoulder.

"Oh, Natsume, I'm so glad to see you!" Nurse Joy exclaimed.

"Chancey!" Chancey said in agreement.

Natsume smiled at me, then met them in the center of the Pokecenter. They talked quietly, and I couldn't really make out what they were saying. I caught the words "Pokemon thief" and "Team Rocket" from Nurse Joy, and Natsume nodded and asked questions. Finally, Nurse Joy broke away and went to the back of the Pokecenter, and Natsume came over to me. She looked down at me and said, "Are you ok, Satsumi?"

I nodded.

"But what are you doing here, Natsume?" I asked. "Did you know something bad was happening?"

"I sensed it, yes," she said with a nod.

"That's amazing!" I exclaimed.

Natsume smiled and said, "You think so? I guess I'm just used to it."

Then a serious expression crossed her face.

"Nurse Joy said that the woman who tried to steal the Pokemon here had something that seemed to control Pokemon," she said.

"Yes, she did!" I said. "Actually..."

I reached into my pocket and took out the disc I'd found earlier, feeling its strange energy again.

"This is a piece of it," I said, holding it out to her.

Natsume took it from me, balanced it on her palm, turned it over and over in her fingers just like I had.

"Hmm..." she said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," Natsume answered. "I've never felt an energy quite like this before."

"Do you think it's how the device was able to control the Pokemon?" I asked.

Natsume nodded.

"I'm almost certain," she said. "I'm going to hold onto this; I can probably figure out more about it than Nurse Joy or the police."

"Oh, ok," I said, a little disappointed.

"Were you hoping to keep it?" Natsume asked, smiling again.

"Oh, I knew I couldn't," I said. I shrugged. "I just liked the way it felt when I held it."

Her fingers closed around the disc, and she nodded, saying nothing, just studying me.

Her staring was starting to make me uncomfortable, and I couldn't help breaking eye contact and looking to the floor.

"Oh, sorry, Satsumi," Natsume said, pulling back a little. "I was just thinking about something."

"It's ok," I said.

I wondered what she'd been thinking about, whether it had anything to do with me.

"I was sorry to hear about your father," she continued.

"Oh, thank you," I said.

Was that the right response? I was never exactly sure.

"You're going to look for him, aren't you?" she asked. "That's why you're here, right?"

I didn't want to admit it in case she reacted like my mom, but I figured Natsume would know if I was lying. So I nodded.

"Did you read my mind?" I asked.

Natsume smiled and shook her head and said, "No, I wouldn't want to invade your privacy like that."

"I didn't mean-"

"I know you didn't. But I just guessed. Because you're his daughter, and that's what he would've done."

It made me happy that she thought I was like my dad, even if I didn't think so. Suddenly, I had an idea.

"Can you see where he is?" I asked, looking up at her hopefully.

But Natsume just smiled sadly and lowered her head.

"I'm sorry, Satsumi," she said. "I've tried, but I haven't been able to see anything. Something's blocking my vision."

"What is it?" I asked.

She crossed her arms and shifted her gaze away from me.

"I'm not sure; I've never felt anything like it," she replied. Then she looked back to me and put her hands on my shoulders. "Satsumi, I sense strong forces at work here," she said. "Be careful."

Her words made my heart sink, and I could only nod. What chance did I have against forces that seemed powerful even to Natsume?

"I'm not trying to scare you," she continued. "Actually, I have a good feeling about you; I think you have a good chance of finding your father. I just want to make sure you understand what you're getting yourself into."

"Ok," I squeaked. "Thank you, Natsume."

"You're welcome," she said, pulling away. Then she seemed to think of something. "Do you have your Pokedex?" she asked. "We should exchange numbers, so we can tell each other what we find out."

"Ok," I said.

Natsume got her out her own Pokedex, then followed me to the bench where mine was still charging. We started the information exchange process in silence.

"All right," Natsume said when it finished. She put her hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye. "Satsumi, if you need me for anything, even if it's just to talk, don't hesitate to call me, ok? I'll do whatever I can for you."

"Ok," I said, smiling. It really did make me feel better to have someone as powerful as her on my side. "Thank you so much, Natsume! You're so kind."

"Not at all," Natsume replied. "It's the least I can do, after what your father did for me."

I couldn't help wondering, would she still help me if I wasn't Satoshi's daughter? But of course I couldn't ask something like that.

So instead I looked at the floor and said, "Well, thank you, anyway."

"You're welcome, Satsumi," she said.

After that, there wasn't much to say. Natsume said she had some things to take care of at the gym, so we said good-bye, and I sat down and finally called Fuuka.

* * *

"So did you ever find out who the woman was?" Kazeo asked, folding his arms on the table and leaning toward me. "Or what she had to do with Silph?"

He and Fuuka were sitting across from me in a booth at the Pokecenter's cafe; I'd told them everything that had happened while we waited for our food. Well, everything but the part about seeing Peacorra in a dream- that sounded crazy, and I didn't want them to think I was weird.

I stared at my hands in my lap and shook my head.

"No," I said. "The police didn't know, either. Officer Junsa even said it'd probably be tough to find anything out, because the president of Silph Company will probably just try to use money to get out of it."

Fuuka and Kazeo were silent for a moment. Then Fuuka said, "I'm so sorry you had to go through that alone, Satsumi! We should've been here for you..."

I looked up at her and saw how worried she looked.

"It's ok, I'm ok," I said, trying to sound like I meant it. Then I looked down at the table. "It was my fault we got separated, anyway; I should've been paying more attention."

"We _all_ should've been paying more attention," Kazeo said. "We should come up with some kind of plan in case we get separated again." He turned to Fuuka and said, "Hey, remember when Mom used to make us carry walkie-talkies because you were always wandering off on your own?"

"Th-that was a long time ago!" Fuuka exclaimed, crossing her arms and turning red.

Kazeo pointed at her and said to me, "She was always getting lost, chasing wild Pokemon, and we were too young to have our own Pokedexes. So our whole family had to use walkie-talkies so we'd know where to find each other."

"Really?" I said, trying not to laugh.

I was starting to relax a little and was kind of having fun.

Fuuka shrugged and replied, "What can I say? Adventure is just in my blood. And what about you?" she said to Kazeo. "Didn't _you_ get lost once because you were picking flowers?"

"They were _herbs,_" Kazeo said.

"Yeah, _f__lowering_ herbs," Fuuka said, smiling smugly at him.

"Fine, make fun of me," he replied. "But don't forget, if I hadn't gotten lost that day, you wouldn't have Gloom."

"I haven't forgotten," she said in a teasing, sing-song voice.

"Wait, you found Gloom when you got lost?" I asked.

"Yeah," Kazeo admitted. "Well, it's more like Gloom- Oddish, then- found me."

"She found Kazeo all scared and upset and tried to cheer him up," Fuuka continued. "Then she stayed with him to make sure he was ok."

"Aw, that's really sweet," I said.

"Yup!" Fuuka said with a nod. "That's just how Gloom is!"

Kazeo smiled, but didn't say anything. I couldn't help thinking that maybe he should've been Gloom's trainer, if he'd been the one to find her. But he'd said he was fine without any Pokemon, so...

Just then, the waitress walked up carrying our food on a tray. She set our orders down in front of us, asked if we needed anything, and left to check on another table. My burger and fries smelled delicious, making me realize suddenly how hungry I was. I took a big bite of my burger, and it tasted as good as it smelled. As I ate and listened to Fuuka and Kazeo talk about their childhood, a warm feeling started in my chest, then spread through my body. Things didn't seem quite as bad at that moment. There was still anxiety, in the back of my mind, the feeling that there was something I should be worrying about. But I tried to chase that away with positive thoughts- I had Natsume on my side now, she believed in me. And if I thought about it, the thing with Peacorra was probably nothing- I'd probably just seen a picture in my dad's book or something and then forgotten about it. That kind of thing happened to people when they were under a lot of stress, didn't it? It was nothing to worry about. Right then, I could almost believe that.


End file.
